In two summers, Larry Austin has helped two USA Basketball teams finish on the podium.

A member of the 2011-12 USA Basketball Developmental National Team, Larry Austin was a starter on the 2011 USA U16 National Team that captured the gold medal at the FIBA Americas U18 Championship. He averaged 7.2 points a game and ranked third among all tournament participants in assists with 4.4 dishes per outing. So, imagine the disappointment when on June 17 Austin found out he wasn’t among the 12 players selected to represent USA Basketball at the 2012 FIBA U17 World Championship. However, he was called upon later in the summer to participate in the 2012 USA 3x3 U18 National Tournament and his team ran away with the gold medal and a slot on the 2012 USA 3x3 U18 World Championship Team.

Austin traveled to Spain, where he and his teammates posted an 8-2 mark and finished with the silver medal after a heart-breaking overtime loss to Serbia in the gold medal game.

USA Basketball.com recently caught up with Lanphier High School’s 2012 Associated Press Illinois Class 3A All-State honorable mention to find out what he learned about his two years playing for USA Basketball and what kind of knowledge he can impart to the young athletes who will be striving to make the 2013 USA Basketball Men’s U16 National Team later this year.

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