Three years ago Medi Obang was buried on the Austin JV boys basketball team. Now he has an athletic scholarship to play college basketball.

 Obang, who scored 1,001 career points in just two seasons with the Packers, has made his commitment to play at NJCAA Division I Lake Region College in Devils Lake, N.D. next season.

 Obang, who averaged 19.6 points and 3.6 steals per game this past season for Austin, is following the Austin to North Dakota basketball pipeline that also brought Austin grad Ajuda Nywesh to Lake Region, where he had two outstanding seasons for the Royals. Obang came into contact with Lake Region when head coach Jared Marshall contacted him in December and he finally earned his offer when Marshall visited AHS a couple of weeks ago.

“It’s very exciting. For a coach to look into me and say, ‘I want you to play for us.’ That’s a really good feeling,” Obang said. “(Marshall) told me things that he liked about my game in December and I kept that in mind throughout the year.”

 Obang made huge strides in the last three seasons for the Packers. He went from a JV player to a key role player on the Austin team that took fourth in the Minnesota Class AAA State Tournament as a junior, to being a standout and top scorer on the Packer team that took third in state this season.

 “I feel like I’ve had a lot of growth, but I can still improve on my play-making. I’ve been getting drills in,” Obang said. “I’ve been in the gym and in the weight room trying to get stronger.”

 Obang contacted Nywesh about Lake Region and he was told that Devils Lake is a place he can focus on academics and basketball, with the intention of improving in both.

 “Ajuda was told me it was a real good fit. I just have to worry about my basketball and my academics and that would be a really good environment,” Obang said. “It motivates me to work even harder to be the best I can be.”