Yakima Forward Has UW Basketball Offer, Deep Family Genes

In Yakima, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree -- especially if it's of the Birley variety.

With a University of Washington basketball offer in hand this week, 6-foot-5 forward Austin Birley from West Valley High School has established himself as one of the state's premier players from the Class of 2028.

One of his next moves is to see if he can become the elite basketball player simply within the confines of his family.

Austin is off to a pretty good start.

His father, Andy, a 6-foot-4 guard, emerged from Battle Ground High School in the late 1990s, where he was a conference MVP, to become a three-year starter for Colorado State and formerly the school's all-time 3-point shooting leader.

Brother Landen, another 6-foot-4 shooting guard, emerged from West Valley a year ago as the school's all-time leading career scorer (1,746 points) and game scorer (44 points), and he just finished his freshman season in the Big Sky for Idaho State.

Now comes Austin, who is a little taller than the others at 6-foot-5, just finished a productive sophomore season for a 20-5 team and is out to surpass the accomplishments of his fellow family members.

As a 10th-grader for the Rams, this Birley averaged 20 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks and 1.5 steals per game.

He had 35-point game against Mead and a 20-10-10 triple double against Moses Lake.

For his efforts, Birley was a first-team All-Big 9 selection, the Big 9's Defensive Player of the Year and a WIAA second-team All-State pick.

He holds other scholarship offers from Colorado State, again his father's alma mater, and from Seattle University.

Yet it is not just the male side of the family that has brought high-level basketball genes to Austin, according to Central Washington-based Stat Hound Media.

Birley's mom, Katie, played basketball for West Valley High and for Colorado State, where she met her husband Andy.

For that matter, she is the former Katie Borton, a fourth-generation descendent in the Borton Fruit company, one of the nation's leaders in fruit production.

There have been numerous others interspersed throughout the family, such as uncles, aunts, cousins and even a grandfather who have played college basketball.

It's been decades since Yakima had a player talented enough to receive a UW scholarship and earn a starting role, going all the way back to Shag Williams, who played for Davis High and then for Marv Harshman-coached Husky teams.

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