It was a particularly special Senior Day in Ann Arbor Sunday afternoon, and not just because No. 22 Michigan knocked off rival No. 8 Ohio State.
Two-time plane crash survivor Austin Hatch celebrates Senior Day at Michigan
Senior Day is always emotional. It was especially so Sunday afternoon in Ann Arbor.
Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images
For the first time in three years, Austin Hatch suited up. Hatch became known nationally for surviving two plane crashes, the second occurring in June 2011 when he was already committed to play basketball for the Wolverines. The crash killed his father and stepmother, and it left Hatch in an eight-week coma due to traumatic brain injuries. He had to relearn how to to walk and talk, and also how to come to grips with the fact that the was unlikely to ever become the type of basketball player he had been before.
Still, Michigan coach John Beilein honored Hatch’s scholarship offer. In 2014-15, Hatch joined the Wolverines basketball program and netted the first point of his college career that December.
After that season, Hatch announced that he was taking a medical redshirt, ending his basketball career. He stayed with Michigan basketball as a student manager, and the school received a waiver from the NCAA that allowed it to continue to pay for Hatch’s education without it counting against the Wolverines’ scholarship count.
On Sunday, Hatch was back on the bench in the maize and blue to celebrate his Senior Day.
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