TURNING A CRUSHING DEFEAT INTO A MIGHTY VICTORY

Sidelined by serious accident, Campbellsville-Harrodsburg’s Austin Sparrow returns with true mission his priority

By John Herndon, 110forChrist

HARRODSBURG, Ky. – Austin Sparrow was undoubtedly born to coach basketball. As a toddler, he sat with a team manager at the end of the bench while his father, Casey Sparrow, coached girls’ basketball at Anderson County High School. Casey’s top assistant? His wife, and Austin’s mom, Lisa.

And soon after graduating from Lindsey Wilson College, Sparrow was hired as an assistant coach at Campbellsville University – Harrodsburg. But before that first season began, the head coach left and Sparrow was thrust into the job of building a fledgling program as the youngest college basketball head coach in America.

Sparrow, now in his sixth season at CU-H, has since relinquished that youngest coach designation and has built the Pioneers into a National Christian College Athletic Association Division II powerhouse. After Saturday’s 82-48 romp past Welch College, he’s won 89 games against 71 losses and led his team to two regional championships. In 2022, Sparrow and his team brought home the big trophy as NCCAA, Division II champions.

It’s been a lot of basketball and a lot of winning for Austin Sparrow and his Pioneers.

But earlier this season, shortly after Campbellsville-Harrodsburg had registered a monumental win on the road, it looked like life had handed Austin Sparrow a crushing defeat. Instead, he’s claiming a victory that can’t be measured on the scoreboard.

“It took me away from what I love,” Sparrow says of a serious automobile accident that could have disrupted the season or worse. “It’s what I have done my whole life. It’s what I have been raised in. It took a lot out of me.”

The ordeal began as the Pioneers were traveling home following an 88-78 win at highly-ranked Ohio Christian in Circleville, Ohio. Another vehicle slammed into the 15-passenger school van Sparrow was driving. Most emerged unscathed – “One of our players was out for a week with a concussion. By the grace of God, nobody else was hurt.”

Except for Coach Austin Sparrow. After being trapped in the van for over 90 minutes, Sparrow was extracted, then taken to Grant Medical Center in Columbus. His femur had been broken in three places and was surgically repaired with a steel rod and six screws.

Two days later, as he headed home, Sparrow posted on Facebook, “As I am leaving Grant Medical Center here in Columbus, Ohio… I want to THANK GOD! I know not his plan for my life, but I pray for and have faith in his design for it.”

Sparrow wanted to get back with his team, but his orthopedist nixed that idea. For three weeks, game decisions and practice routines were left up to his top assistant coach, Zach Freeman. “He was phenomenal,” Sparrow smiles. “During that time, we played (Eastern Kentucky). He did a phenomenal job leading the team through that experience.”

CU-H hung with the Division I school, trailing 40-33 at the 4:30 mark of the first half before the Colonels pulled away for a 98-62 win. 

But even though most of the Pioneers came through the accident without a scratch, they endured a five-game losing streak from mid-December through early January. Two of the losses were by a basket. Another was by a free throw. Two were by five points. All were on the road. 

“I was trying to get healthy and our guys were trying to get healthy from the wreck both mentally and physically,” Sparrow explains. “We had started the season 6-1, then had the five-game slide.”

But unable to leave his house, Sparrow did some serious introspection and he credits his wife, Lauren, for being a pillar standing beside him through his recovery. There were times he became angry at his predicament, but he says that ultimately, he was reminded of what is truly important. “I reprioritized things in life,” he says. “I am going to be a father coming up in June. I spent a lot of quality time with my wife.”

At times, Sparrow walks with a noticeable limp, but he says his rehab is going well, just as his team has recovered from it’s mid-season slide.

Saturday’s win over Welch was the Pioneers fifth in six games and improved their record to 12-8 heading into the final weeks of the regular season. 

Against Welch, a team that CU-H had defeated 84-82 on the road nine days earlier, the Pioneers used their defensive pressure to disrupt the Flames from the outset. CU-H never trailed and the lead reached double digits when junior Chivion Ashby buried a three-pointer to make it 24-13 with 6:20 to play in the first half.

By intermission, CU-H led 38-21 and were never threatened in the final 20 minutes. 

“The first time we played, they shot the ball well,” Sparrow said. “We mix in a lot of different defenses in our strategy. We want to create ball pressure that you saw today. We want to create turnovers and turnovers into points. We want to take the other team out of their offense and make it very hard for them to score. 

“Our guys took that challenge. We have been talking about St. John’s and Rick Pitino’s team this year and how they are flying around and very defensively motivated. We want to be defensively motivated and known as a team that prides itself on defense.”

Welch shot just 25 percent from the field after hitting 45 percent the first game.

The stellar defense has been a trademark of Sparrow’s teams and he believes the current team, which is unbeaten in NCCAA regional play, could potentially make another deep postseason run. 

“I believe this team has the ability to be one of the best defensive teams that we have ever had,” Sparrow says. “We have two guys, Warner Bryan (6-foot-7) and Evan Frederick (6-9), who are averaging almost three blocks a game. They are both helping us. We currently lead the NCCAA Division II level in blocked shots per game”

Bryan and Frederick both had a block against Welch and the Pioneers were credited with five as a team. Frederick also pulled down seven rebounds and Bryan snared nine as CU-H won the battle of the boards, 47-40.

Sparrow and the Pioneers hope that continues and his mission, as always, is to guide CU-H to the NCCAA title. A year ago, they made the Final Four before falling.

But being taken from the game he loves, even for a short time, has reminded Sparrow again that the ultimate mission is leading his team to a closer relationship with Jesus.

“There were a lot of different things that were going through my head during that time of being trapped in a van for an hour-and-a-half,” Sparrow says. “One thing that was consistent was that if He is for you, then nothing else can stand against you.”

It’s Austin Sparrow’s deepest message to his team.

“Our guys, I challenge them a lot in their faith. For me, it’s kind of uncomfortable doing that but its part of that identity switch that I’ve had. I want to be a guy that leads people to Christ. I want to be a guy that is looked up to in this community. It’s a lot of responsibility, but this wreck just gave me the opportunity to share God’s grace. 

“I gave grace to the person that was involved in the wreck with us. Mentally, I had to go through that and process it. I think our guys had to go through a little bit of that as well.

“My faith is the most important thing to me,” Sparrow says. “My wife is the second most important thing, and my family. Then basketball. Those three weeks really helped me reprioritize that.”