David Austin

***Another update, Saturday (Jan 31) my junior high teams both played for the district championships. The girls lost a heart breaker to Indianola Academy at the buzzer after coming from 14 points behind to lose by 1 point as our last second layup rolled off the side of the rim. The boys played very well and held on against a late rally by the Carroll Academy junior boys.

Both teams finished the year strong. The girls improved so much from the first game. I was very proud of them.***

**Last night my junior high boys team beat Indianola Academy to finish undefeated in district for the year. Marshall hasn't lost a district game in about 4 years now. My junior high girls weren't so fortunate. They lost by 3 and will finish 3rd in district regular season play. The district tournament is next week. The boys are the favorite to win and the girls are very capable of pulling it off. It should be a fun week regardless.***

I have taught History, English, Spanish, and Creative Writing while coaching basketball, football, track, and slow pitch softball at various times over the last 6 years.

Dad and I took the Boys basketball coaching positions at Kirk Academy back in 2006 to turn it around. Kirk boys had not gone beyond the district tournament in 8 years. Dad stepped down after 2007 to be my assistant at Kirk and in 2008 we finished 2nd in district, 2nd in North AA, and made the State AA tournament for the first time in over a decade.

Sadly, in 2007, the longtime headmaster at Kirk, Dr. Allen Smithers, left Kirk to take the headmaster's position at Presbyterian Christian School in Hattiesburg and the man Kirk hired to take his place was an incompetent fool. He fired the entire basketball coaching staff (boys and girls) at Kirk for no reason and has since completely rewritten the school's handbook and is more or less trying his best to ruin the school.

Dad has moved back to Gulfport we lived before moving to Prep in 1993. He is now fully retired.

I have since taken a job at Marshall Academy in Holly Springs, MS. I am the assistant high school boys and girls basketball coach and head junior high boys and girls basketball coach. Right now I'm teaching 12th government, 11th us history, 9th world geography, and 7th civics.

We've built a house here in Red Banks and have finally been able to move in and so far we love it up here. School is moving along and basketball season is almost here.