In addition to being a standout football player for St. Amant, Austin Bascom is an excellent student and gives back to his community through many volunteering efforts.
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For years,
Austin Bascom prepped to become the starting quarterback of the
St. Amant (La.) football team.
Bascom had a private quarterback coach. He worked on his craft diligently, trying to perfect the position.
But after his sophomore season, St. Amant football coach David Oliver asked Bascom for the ultimate sacrifice: switch positions for the benefit of the team.
"Instead of complaining or whatever, he just said, ‘I'll be the best receiver you can possibly have,' " Oliver said.
Bascom isn't the type of kid who is worried about himself; he's all about what is best for his team.
The 16-year-old responded with a strong junior season at wide receiver. In an offense that relied heavily on its rushing attack this year, Bascom was second on the Gators with 27 catches for 315 yards and one touchdown.
"He's done a great job," Oliver said.
Bascom thought his transition to a new position went smoothly.
"I kind of knew going into the season I was going to be able to get time and I was able to put in a lot of work in the offseason and my coaches prepared me really well," Bascom said. "About midseason, I was starting to hit my stride."
It was advantageous for Bascom to have his quarterback background while moving to wide receiver. He knew the routes well and what his quarterback was thinking while going through progressions.
Bascom made the switch from quarterback to
receiver to help the team, a move he embraced.
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"He took to it pretty fast," Oliver said. "I can't tell you how many Friday nights or Saturdays or after school and I've driven by and seen him out there working with his buddies to fine tune his craft. He's really worked for what he's received."
Bascom, 6-foot, 175 pounds, took about 80 percent of his snaps out of the slot this season. The rest of the plays, coach Oliver had him split outside.
"As the year progressed, we tried playing him more and more outside trying to get some one-on-one matchups with the corners as opposed to the linebackers and safeties where he was used to working," Oliver said.
Bascom always makes sure to run crisp routes and make clean cuts to try to beat defenders. He's confident he'll catch anything in that comes in his vicinity because of his sturdy hands.
"I kind of pride myself on being able to run every route in the route tree," Bascom said. "I had some pretty long balls this year but I also had short balls where I was able to do some stuff athletically with it. Really, I'm just focused on catching the ball, 10-15 yards or whatever the play, and be able to run every route good."
Playing in Class 5A, the biggest division in Louisiana football, Bascom has to come ready with his A-game every night. Bascom feels that taking on top-notch teams and players have really elevated his play.
"It hypes me up, honestly," Bascom said. "I'm ready to go. I'm ready to prove myself because I'm always going to be underestimated, that's how it is. But I want to prove myself against the best. And the only way to do that is to play the best."
Oliver isn't surprised Bascom had success in his first season at wide receiver. The coach admires the hard work ethic of his player.
"You put in so much work and you just wonder if it's going to pay off eventually," Bascom said. "To be able to see some of it start to come to fruition, that was really good, really nice to see."
For how hard Bascom works on the field, he works just as hard in school.
All of Bascom's courses this semester are higher level honors. He's challenged in the classroom and still maintains a 4.25 grade point average on a 5.0 scale.
At St. Amant, Bascom takes part in Fellowship of Christian Athletes and is a mentor in Gator-to-Gator, an outreach program where he helps welcome incoming freshmen.
"Any time I can get someone to be able to better themselves and to try to work hard for something, that's great," Bascom said.
Outside of school, Bascom is very involved with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He dedicates about 10 to 12 hours per month volunteering with various activities.
When there was major flooding in Louisiana in 2016 that wiped out 80 percent of the houses of congregation members, Bascom was one of many people who spent 12 hours a day for two weeks gutting houses and cleaning up. He helped on the home front following the devastation caused by Hurricane Michael in Florida. Bascom also frequents food shelves and helps make quilts to donate.
The teenager loves volunteering to aid the less fortunate and those who have been displaced by disaster.
"It makes me feel great," said Bascom, who organized and ran a free football camp for unprivileged kids in August. "There's nothing better than seeing someone who can't do something for themselves and you do it for them. The smile on their face and how grateful they are, it's really amazing."
Since his Mormon faith is so important in his life, Brigham Young University is at the top of Bascom's list of colleges.
"I love the culture there, but they also have a great medical school and I really want to be a physical therapist and be able to do that," Bascom said.
The University of Utah and Utah State are also options for Bascom.
He knows if he's going to play football at the next level — especially at the FBS level — he has to step up his game as a senior.
If he gets a shot to play college football, perfect. If not, Bascom isn't worried. Life is more than football. He's shown that with his dedication in school and his kind, volunteering heart.
"I think he's just well-grounded in his faith and he's unselfish," Oliver said. "He's comfortable with who he is."
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Bascom would love to continue playing football at the next level and, with his Mormon faith, has eyes on Brigham Young University. He also would like to one day work in the medical field, perhaps as a physical therapist.
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