When Austin Budke chose to continue playing basketball at Hutchinson Community College, there was some excitement about the kind of player he could be.
At 6-foot-6, he was a three-sport star in high school at Beloit. Budke was an all-state tight end known for his toughness, a basketball player with both the strength to play in the post and the agility to attack from the outside and an accomplished track athlete to boot.
Budke was such a talented high school athlete, he once took an unofficial visit to Notre Dame for football. But his first love was always basketball, and he ended up at Hutchinson after dazzling with a 39-point performance in a high school all-star game.