Austin Hatch scores first points for Michigan after surviving two plane crashes

There isn’t a player in college basketball with a more heartbreaking story than Michigan’s Austin Hatch. When Hatch was eight years old, he survived a plane crash that killed his mother and two siblings. Eight years after that, he survived another plane crash that killed his father and stepmother.

Hatch had verbally committed to play basketball at Michigan 10 days before his second plane crash. He has spent the last two years relearning how to eat and walk after the second crash left him in a coma.

Michigan stood by him the entire time, honoring his scholarship and letting him be part of the team even if he’s no longer capable of being the same player he once was. On Monday night, Austin Hatch scored his first points as a college basketball player.

The sound of the crowd, the emotion between Hatch and Michigan coach John Beilein ... it’s a lot to handle.

College sports aren’t *all* scandal. Sometimes, stories like this can reaffirm your faith in why we all like this stuff so much.