During his sophomore campaign at Albermarle HS, in Charlottesville, Austin Katstra emerged as one of 5A's top players. The athletic forward owns a series of effective back-to-the basket moves he utilizes with regularity in the post. This is thanks to…
During his sophomore campaign at Albermarle HS, in Charlottesville, Austin Katstra emerged as one of 5A's top players. The athletic forward owns a series of effective back-to-the basket moves he utilizes with regularity in the post. This is thanks to his early growth spurt and his determination to take advantage of his height early on.
“I'm pretty comfortable in the post,” Katstra stated. “I was always the tallest kid on the court the past few years because of my early growth spurt.”
His scoring prowess was evident last season. The 6'6 sophomore averaged 18.9 points per game for Albermarle. He was very efficient, shooting 60% from the field. His sneaky athleticism and work rate enable him to rebound in his area very effectively.
“I'm a pretty solid rebounder,” said Katstra. “That's probably one of my best traits on the court. Most people don't think I can jump pretty high. I've had multiple people come up to me and say they didn't expect me to jump as high as I do.”
In light of his performances for high school and AAU, Katstra is drawing interest from some D1 schools. VMI, William & Mary, and Princeton have expressed interest. Ohio and Belmont are the two schools Katstra is hearing from the most.
“I'm hearing from Ohio and Belmont the most lately,” he began. “Ohio has a pack-line defense similar to UVA, and a motion offense. I think I would fit in as a 3/4 mixture, a solid rebounder.”
Katstra has been sharpening his wing skills so that he can be more versatile. He's been improving on his shooting, and ball handling so that he's more comfortable on the perimeter.
“I've been working a lot with my ball handling so I can play the 3 position and more on the perimeter. I've gotten better on the outside. I'm continuing to work on my outside shot.” he said.
Another thing Katstra does really well is catch the ball. He has excellent hands. His coach at Albermarle HS, Greg Maynard, shed some light on Austin as a person and player.
“He's very athletic. Can score inside and out. A very smart basketball player. A solid all around hgihg school player at this point,” Maynard said. “He's an outstanding person. Very high character. Very good in the classroom. Has an outstanding GPA and takes all the toughest classes that our school has to offer.”
Heading into his junior season, Austin Katstra is once again considered among 5A's top players. He's improving, and looks to lead his team on a deep run this season.