The Michigan basketball team knocked off Wayne State 86-43 in an exhibition game in Ann Arbor, Mich. last night. It was a contest that wasn't really a contest at all as Michigan dominated from start to finish. But a free throw that one of Michigan's players made with 12 seconds left in the game could very well go down as the most important free throw of the team's entire season.
The free throw was made by 20-year-old Austin Hatch, a freshman player who has one of the most incredible back stories that we've ever heard. Hatch has survived not one, but two plane crashes in his life. The first took place back in 2003 and killed his mother and two of his siblings. The second took place in 2011—a short time after he committed to Michigan—and took the lives of his father and his stepmother. And the second crash also left him with a severe brain injury, fractured ribs, a punctured lung, and emotional anguish that few people could ever imagine.
After the crash, the last thing on Hatch's mind was attending Michigan to play basketball. But after moving from Fort Wayne, Ind. to Los Angeles, he was able to finish high school and, eventually, he decided to become a Wolverine and play for Michigan. And that led to him taking the court for Michigan for the first time last night. He only played about a minute and a half. But with 12 seconds left on the clock, he was fouled and sunk the second of two free throws to record his first point as a college player.
It doesn't sound like Hatch is going to get much playing time during the upcoming college basketball season. But even if he doesn't play another second, he'll always have this moment to look back on. And after all that he's been through, what a moment it was.
[via Fox Sports]
