KALAMAZOO, Mich. – After an illustrious career, Western Michigan Athletics caught up with former Western Michigan men's basketball player Austin Richie for a Q&A in this edition of Behind the W.

Richie played from 2011-15 and was an integral part of the men's basketball team that captured the Mid-American Conference regular season and tournament title. In his career Richie registered 943 points, 279 assists and shot 38.8 percent from the field. Richie's 130 career games played is tied for the second most in Bronco basketball history.


 Q: How did you decide to attend WMU?
 Richie: Initially, I was considering schools all across the board. Big schools, small schools, schools close to home, schools far away, etc. However, at the end of my recruitment, I realized two things. Number one, I wanted to be close to home so my family could come to games and WMU was only 2 hours away from home, so that was perfect.  And, number two, I wanted to go to a big school with a lot of students. I wanted a true college experience in a true college town. Western offers all of those things. I couldn't imagine going to a school that offers a different experience than that. 
 
Q: What are you up to now after your college years as  a Bronco?
Richie: After college, I went overseas to Portugal for a very short period of time, before I realized professional basketball was not going to be my cup of tea. I came home and immediately started substitute teaching, passing the time until I figured out what I wanted to do. 
 
I found a job with a medical device company as a sales rep selling cardiac heart monitors. I was in that position for around 2.5 years. In 2018, I was lucky enough to leave and go work for my brother's company that he started in 2015, where I'm still at today. 
 
Our company is called Bear KompleX. We sell fitness gear and accessories to customers all across the world. We're based out of Crown Point, Indiana, where I now reside as well. Over the last 3 basketball seasons, I have also done the color commentary for Bronco Basketball on ESPN3. I have a ton of fun doing that. 
 
Q: What do you miss most about Bronco Basketball? What do you miss the least?
Richie: I miss the grind. I miss Summer I and II sessions, being the only people on campus. We would wake up early, get yelled at by Coach Timmy for 2 hours in the weight room. After, we'd go back to the apartment and hang out, relax by the pool or just play video games. Then we'd head back to the gym to get some shots up and play open gym. You couldn't beat hanging out with your best friends every single day. 
 
And then I miss the feeling you get on a Saturday during basketball season. There's something about those Saturday gamedays. It's tough to put into words, but plain and simple I miss Saturday gamedays. 
 
Q: Favorite WMU memory, basketball and non-basketball?
Richie: Way too many to count. Basketball wise- It has to be something related to the 2014 season though, right? Not losing a single game in the month of February that year was pretty cool. Also, we beat Central at their place in the last regular season game of the season to clinch the number 1 seed for the MAC tourney. We were trailing at the half and then proceeded to shoot like crazy in in the second half, only missing a couple shots.
 
A non-basketball memory would be the people met and relationships formed during my upper level Communication major classes. The familiar faces in every class, both students and professors, made the experience so enjoyable. 
 
Q: What's it like either coming back or watching Bronco Basketball  from home?
Richie: Since I graduated, coming back to campus is so much fun. The energy and atmosphere that Kalamazoo brings is what makes it such a special place. I've been fortunate enough to be able to come back to campus quite often over the last 5 years. I still get that same rush of adrenaline on a Saturday gameday even though I'm not playing.  
 
Also, now I get to eat the almonds that are roasting 5 feet from the court at University Arena. It was always torture having to smell them during layup lines, and not being able to grab a bag. 
 
Q: If someone were to enter your home, home quickly would they know you're a Bronco?
Richie: It would take less than a minute. Number 1-  if I greeted them at the door, there is a very good chance that I am already wearing something WMU related. 
 
Then as they stepped into my home, they would see throw blankets on the couch that have WMU patterns. They would see drinking glasses with a big "W" on them. Grill set, golf towel, glass pitchers - I could imagine it would seem obnoxious to an outsider.