Wendie Austin

BIOGRAPHY

Wendie Austin joined the Centre Athletics staff in 1997 and became head women's basketball coach in the 2005-06 season. Since that time, she has recorded more wins than any coach in Centre women's basketball history with a 233-220 career head coaching record.

Austin is a four-time conference Coach of the Year honoree, winning the award in the SCAC in 2009 and 2012, and again in the SAA in 2013 and 2023. In addition, she was was named the WBCA Region 5 Coach of the Year in 2012 and was a finalist for the WBCA/Russell Athletic National Coach of the Year after a 26-4 regular season in 2011-12. The Colonels captured SCAC regular season and tournament championships and advanced to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen that season.

Austin followed that up in the 2022-23 campaign with a share outright SAA regular season title as well as the SAA Coach of the Year award.

She also earned 2009 SCAC Coach of the Year honors after Centre posted an 18-8 ledger during the 2008-09 season.

Austin has coached two All-Americans in Maggie Prewitt and Paige Baechle.

Prewitt was a two-time All-American, earning D3hoops.com first-team honors as a senior in 2012 after being named a D3hoops.com third-team selection as a junior in 2011. She also garnered WBCA honorable mention accolades in 2011. Prewitt finished as the school's all-time leader in several statistical categories, including assists (536), steals (222), 3-pt. field goals made (160) and 3-pt. field goals attempted (416). She also scored 1,824 career points, good for third in program history. Prewitt (2011, 2012) and Austin (1994, 1993) are the only two players in program history to be named SCAC Player of the Year twice. In addition, Prewitt was named the South Region Player of the Year in 2012. 

Baechle was a D3hoops.com third-team honoree as a senior in 2014 and was named SAA Player of the Year as a junior in 2013. She was also an All-South Region second-team selection in 2013. Baechle finished her career as Centre's all-time career leader in rebounds with 875, while ranking fourth in school history with 1,471 career points. 

All told, Austin has coached 28 all-conference selections, including six first-team honorees.

In 2004, Austin became only the sixth women’s basketball player in school history to be inducted into the Centre College Athletic Hall of Fame. One year later, she was the only Centre member of the SCAC 15th Anniversary Women’s Basketball Team, which recognized the top basketball players in the first 15 years of the conference’s existence.

An All-SCAC first-team center for three years, she led the Colonels to four consecutive conference championships. Austin was named a Southern Region All-American as a junior and a third-team NCAA All-American as a senior. For her career, her teams won 71 games, and at the time she became Centre’s all-time leader in rebounds with 773. Austin is one of 16 Colonels with over 1,000 career points. She finished her playing career in 1994 with 1,343 points, third on the all-time list at the time. 

Not only was she named the SCAC’s top player as both a junior and senior, but Austin also finished second in the voting as a sophomore. To this day, she still ranks in the top three in three different categories in conference history and is 34th in league history in career points.

In 2000, Austin received her master’s degree in sports administration from Eastern Kentucky University.

She also spent 14 seasons as Centre head softball coach, twice being named the SCAC's Softball Coach of the Year, most recently in 2007 after leading the Colonels to a school record 23 wins and a birth in the tournament championship game.

A native of Burgin, Ky., Austin coached the boys’ and girls’ basketball teams at King Middle School in Mercer County, where she also served as the athletic director.