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| John Auslander keeps watch on his brother Kent from Maryland bench | John Auslander keeps watch on his brother Kent from Maryland bench |
| (1 day later) | |
| Maryland graduate assistant coach John Auslander grabbed a large red pad and stood under the basket, swatting at players as they drove in to attempt layups near the end of a basketball practice last week. The exercise, designed to help the Terrapins learn how to finish their shots while taking contact, looked like a football blocking drill. | |
| Then freshman walk-on Kent Auslander dribbled into the paint. His thin 6-foot-6 frame was met with a forceful thud. John continued to harass him with the red pad, shoving it into Kent’s face until he finally made a layup on his third try, passing the latest test of tough brotherly love. | Then freshman walk-on Kent Auslander dribbled into the paint. His thin 6-foot-6 frame was met with a forceful thud. John continued to harass him with the red pad, shoving it into Kent’s face until he finally made a layup on his third try, passing the latest test of tough brotherly love. |
| “I go a little harder with him than I do with some of the other guys, for different reasons,” John Auslander said. “The big thing for him is getting tougher mentally and physically, more so mentally. I think it’s worked for him, when I beat him up with the pad.” | |
| The pad is just one technique in John’s hardening of his 19-year-old brother, a forward who has become a valuable member of Maryland’s scout team. Sometimes all it takes is one of John’s glares. He’ll stare down Kent when he doesn’t dive for a loose ball or misses an opportunity to take a charge, because those are the type of plays John made his name on as a walk-on at Maryland from 2010 to 2014. | The pad is just one technique in John’s hardening of his 19-year-old brother, a forward who has become a valuable member of Maryland’s scout team. Sometimes all it takes is one of John’s glares. He’ll stare down Kent when he doesn’t dive for a loose ball or misses an opportunity to take a charge, because those are the type of plays John made his name on as a walk-on at Maryland from 2010 to 2014. |
| [Bracketology: Xavier and Oklahoma have look of No. 1 seeds] | [Bracketology: Xavier and Oklahoma have look of No. 1 seeds] |
| John, 25, is in his second and final year as a graduate assistant. He’s a hungry young coach putting in 90-hour work weeks for the No. 4 Terrapins (10-1). But his most important and cherished project this season is continuing to help his younger brother reach his own potential, which has really been a lifelong pursuit. | John, 25, is in his second and final year as a graduate assistant. He’s a hungry young coach putting in 90-hour work weeks for the No. 4 Terrapins (10-1). But his most important and cherished project this season is continuing to help his younger brother reach his own potential, which has really been a lifelong pursuit. |
| It began on the family’s backyard court in Reston, where Kent developed his quick shot release because of his older brother’s size advantage. It continued when both were teenagers playing at parks and at the YMCA, where John would team with his little brother and set pick after pick in order to free up his three-point shot. | It began on the family’s backyard court in Reston, where Kent developed his quick shot release because of his older brother’s size advantage. It continued when both were teenagers playing at parks and at the YMCA, where John would team with his little brother and set pick after pick in order to free up his three-point shot. |
| “Like a father figure, [John] was happier when Kent made a shot than when he made a shot,” said their father, Bill. | “Like a father figure, [John] was happier when Kent made a shot than when he made a shot,” said their father, Bill. |
| Bill Auslander is the source of his sons’ passion for the game. He coached both his sons in AAU and still coaches fall and summer leagues, and raised them with Maryland basketball as a self-professed Terrapins fanatic. He went to school in College Park from 1982 to 1986 and said he never missed a home game. He met his wife, Christine, as a junior and would often have to save her a seat at Cole Field House because he and his friends were adamant about showing up to every game at least two hours early. | Bill Auslander is the source of his sons’ passion for the game. He coached both his sons in AAU and still coaches fall and summer leagues, and raised them with Maryland basketball as a self-professed Terrapins fanatic. He went to school in College Park from 1982 to 1986 and said he never missed a home game. He met his wife, Christine, as a junior and would often have to save her a seat at Cole Field House because he and his friends were adamant about showing up to every game at least two hours early. |
| Bill took John to his first Maryland game on Dec. 11, 1999, a 72-66 win over Kentucky. It was less an introduction and more a baptism. After serving as a role player at Herndon High, John played one season at Division III Greensboro College before transferring to Maryland in 2010 and walking onto the team, and he remained on the roster after Mark Turgeon took over for Gary Williams in 2011. Maryland had just seven scholarship players that year, John said, which helped him to stand out whenever he made simple contributions with his tenacity. | Bill took John to his first Maryland game on Dec. 11, 1999, a 72-66 win over Kentucky. It was less an introduction and more a baptism. After serving as a role player at Herndon High, John played one season at Division III Greensboro College before transferring to Maryland in 2010 and walking onto the team, and he remained on the roster after Mark Turgeon took over for Gary Williams in 2011. Maryland had just seven scholarship players that year, John said, which helped him to stand out whenever he made simple contributions with his tenacity. |
| “If I helped on a rear screen, a simple thing like that, I stood out. And I was used, like, ‘If John can help on a rear screen, why can’t you?’ ” he said. “Now everybody is helping on rear screens, and they’re talented. So being a walk-on is a completely different animal than when I first got here.” | “If I helped on a rear screen, a simple thing like that, I stood out. And I was used, like, ‘If John can help on a rear screen, why can’t you?’ ” he said. “Now everybody is helping on rear screens, and they’re talented. So being a walk-on is a completely different animal than when I first got here.” |
| As John watched the culture within Turgeon’s program change drastically over the past four years, it also provided him with unique insight that could help prepare Kent to join the program after graduating from Herndon in 2014. But neither was prepared for the detour that Kent, who is a sophomore academically, had to take in order to arrive in College Park. | As John watched the culture within Turgeon’s program change drastically over the past four years, it also provided him with unique insight that could help prepare Kent to join the program after graduating from Herndon in 2014. But neither was prepared for the detour that Kent, who is a sophomore academically, had to take in order to arrive in College Park. |
| He had delayed his application to Maryland while he waited in hopes of a potential scholarship offer to play for Mount Saint Mary’s, and his late enrollment at College Park left him ineligible to walk on with the Terrapins last season. For the first time since he was in third grade, he didn’t have a team to play with. While John continued to help with Maryland in his first year as a graduate assistant, Kent eventually stopped going to games because he couldn’t bear it. | |
| John “was always in my ear,” Kent said, “just being like, ‘You’re going to get your opportunity. Don’t worry.’ I kept working.” | John “was always in my ear,” Kent said, “just being like, ‘You’re going to get your opportunity. Don’t worry.’ I kept working.” |
| The brothers would often stage late-night training sessions at Xfinity Center last season. After Maryland’s biggest win, against Wisconsin in February, John changed out of his suit and rushed upstairs to the school’s auxiliary gym. Kent was there waiting. They worked out until nearly 1 a.m. It was the kind of session that kept Kent sane and sharp as he prepared to walk on to the team later in the summer. | The brothers would often stage late-night training sessions at Xfinity Center last season. After Maryland’s biggest win, against Wisconsin in February, John changed out of his suit and rushed upstairs to the school’s auxiliary gym. Kent was there waiting. They worked out until nearly 1 a.m. It was the kind of session that kept Kent sane and sharp as he prepared to walk on to the team later in the summer. |
| It has been difficult at times for Kent to serve as a scout-team player with his older brother watching his every move. Every mistake is almost magnified. Aside from the physical lessons he tried to teach Kent with the red pad, John has been hammering his brother for poor body language. Kent has always struggled to keep a poker face as a player. He often gets emotional after missing a shot and it sometimes affects his defensive play. | It has been difficult at times for Kent to serve as a scout-team player with his older brother watching his every move. Every mistake is almost magnified. Aside from the physical lessons he tried to teach Kent with the red pad, John has been hammering his brother for poor body language. Kent has always struggled to keep a poker face as a player. He often gets emotional after missing a shot and it sometimes affects his defensive play. |
| “He’s always been big on mental toughness,” Kent said. | “He’s always been big on mental toughness,” Kent said. |
| While John has always admitted that his little brother has more physical gifts than he did, he’s trying to ingrain an edge into Kent so that he can survive the next four years of major college basketball. John, considered a promising young basketball mind by Turgeon, will likely be gone and on another staff by that point. It’s the reason he refuses to coddle Kent, but the younger brother has never interpreted it as anything other than love. | While John has always admitted that his little brother has more physical gifts than he did, he’s trying to ingrain an edge into Kent so that he can survive the next four years of major college basketball. John, considered a promising young basketball mind by Turgeon, will likely be gone and on another staff by that point. It’s the reason he refuses to coddle Kent, but the younger brother has never interpreted it as anything other than love. |
| “I always told him, the goal for me, was for him to be better than me,” John said. “He’s on his way.” | “I always told him, the goal for me, was for him to be better than me,” John said. “He’s on his way.” |
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