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It is no surprise that former Austin head boys basketball coach Kris Fadness is headed to the MBCA Hall of Fame in October, after all his achievements speak for themselves.

Not only did Fadness rack up over 400 wins and seven state tournaments with the Packers, he did so without a hint of ego.

Fadness was the kind of coach who could work his team hard with a grin on his face and he was always find of teasing his players that a three-pointer is worth more than two if they got a little too high on themselves after a slam dunk.

Fadness is also a basketball lover to the core. I’ll never forget the time that Austin had just won a state tournament game and he was glued to the TV in the locker room – watching NCAA March Madness just minutes after his team’s wins. He can also offer you a lesson on the history of the game and the current state of basketball.

Away from the court, you may find cruising on his bicycle with a throwback NBA jersey and a backwards hat.

But Fadness’s contributions to Austin go well beyond basketball. He will never take credit for it, but his dedication to the program helped build Austin basketball into a powerhouse and he probably improved the lives of a lot of his players in doing so.

Fadness would load up his van with young AYB players to get them to tournaments over the summer and he would host youth camps at a very low cost to grow the game in town.

Only matching his contributions were Fadness’s sacrifices. Although he coached his son Zach with the Packers and his daughter Signe was the basketball manager for awhile, Fadness missed a lot of his daughter’s Sela’s gymnastics meets due to basketball conflicts. For those who don’t know, Sela was one of the best athletes to come out of AHS as she won two Class A State Gymnastics All-Around titles.