Herndon Grad Gains Terps' Scholarship

Herndon High graduate John Auslander, as a freshman at Greensboro (NC) College, averaged just 1.4 points and 7.4 minutes per game for a Division III team.

Now a sophomore at the University of Maryland, a Division I program, the Herndon resident averaged 1.9 points and 9.9 minutes per game in his first seven contests off the bench this season for the Terps and new head coach Mark Turgeon.

"That was two years ago. I was only 18 years old," Auslander, prior to a recent practice at Maryland at the Comcast Center, told Patch of his freshman season at Greensboro. "I have worked so hard since then." He also pointed out he was playing behind a top junior center his one season at Greensboro.

He worked on his game five hours a day, six days a week this past summer. "I just wanted to get better," said Auslander, who added he has gained 20 pounds of mostly muscle since his high school days with the Hornets. "I felt I could play at this level."

That hard work has paid off for Auslander, who played for Chris Whelan at Herndon and graduated in 2008. He was the most valuable player at West Nottingham Academy in Maryland during the 2008-09 season at a prep school and then played the one year at Greensboro.

"He really excelled there" at West Nottingham, said his father, Bill, while heading to College Park for the Maryland home game on Dec. 14 against Florida International University.

After transferring from the school in North Carolina he sat out last season while attending the University of Maryland. After practicing with the Terps at times last year under former head coach Gary Williams, Auslander was told by Turgeon at the beginning of the summer his status as walk-on could be upgraded if he worked hard.

And that is what happened. Turgeon told the 6-foot-7 forward he had earned a scholarship prior to this season. "I was confident I could compete and help out. They gave me a chance and I took it," he said. "Looking back one day I may look at it as an accomplishment but right now I just want to get better."

“He’s in the right position. He knows every play. He knows where the holes are in the zone. He does everything right," Turgeon said of Auslander in late November in The Washington Examiner. "He understands how to play the game. We’re teaching other guys how to play the game. They can learn from John.”

Auslander, majoring in environmental science and policy, is the son of Christine and Bill Auslander. His parents graduated from Maryland in 1986 and their son grew up as a fan of the Terps. "I went to all of the (basketball) games," said his father, he grew up in Baltimore County and has a photo of former Terp coach Gary Williams.

The oldest of four children, one of John's brothers, Kent, is on the varsity basketball team this season as a sophomore at Herndon while another brother, Kevin, attends Herndon Middle School. Auslander was high school teammates with Austin Hamilton, who now plays at Elon in North Carolina as a freshman.

Many players in the ACC dream of a pro playing career. But Auslander, who pretended to be hoop legend Larry Bird when he was younger, has other goals.

"I want to become a grad assistant and become a coach," he said. "I am very passionate about it. (That dream) started when I was 10 or 11. It is a great opportunity. It is a great feeling to see people get better and I really want to do that" as a coach. But for now he is doing just that as a player as a reserve in the ACC.