Metro East Sun

Austin Ledbetter had it figured out early in life.

Ledbetter told Metro East Sun that he remembered that when he was a boy, he watched videos of his father, his idol, playing high school soccer. Then, when he was 6, Ledbetter's parents put him in organized soccer, and he said he hasn't looked back since.

“I knew from day one this was going to be the sport I wanted to play forever,” Ledbetter said.

Austin Ledbetter | SIUE

Now a senior defender at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, Ledbetter is shining for the Cougar soccer program and adding to the list of its great players.

Coming into this season, Ledbetter – who has earned an honor from the Missouri Valley Conference in each prior season – was put on the watch list for the Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy, joining former Cougar star Matt Polster in receiving that recognition for intercollegiate soccer's top honor, according to siuecougars.com. Polster was on the watch list in 2013 and 2014. Ledbetter earned his way onto the list after being named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America All-West Region First Team last season, as well as being an All-MVC First Team pick.

And this season, he added to his list of honors by being named the Missouri Valley Conference's Defensive Player of the Week for last week.

Ledbetter said he has improved drastically from his days of being a high school star at Christian Brothers College in St. Louis to now leading the Cougars.

“When I came to SIUE, I had a poor mentality, and I was a bit immature, and that all changed instantly when I realized that this was not a joke,” he said. “I had to change myself for the better, and if I didn't, I knew this wouldn't work out for the best, so I had to work to change myself.”

This season also required some change for Ledbetter and the team. SIUE was the preseason favorite to repeat as MVC champs, but then won just once in its first seven regular-season games. However, the players chose to focus on team and individual goals, Ledbetter said, and got things turned around. After those first seven games, the Cougars went unbeaten over their next nine games, going 7-0-2 in that span.

“Individually, the start of the season was tough for me because I was only focusing on our record because I thought as a senior, for my future, we had to do well,” Ledbetter said. “I had a lot of talks with Coach Mario (Sanchez), and he changed my mentality. Ever since these talks, I have grown as a person just from this season. Also, when I let go of just focusing on our record or how I had to play, I have played the way I know I can.”

After his final season at SIUE, Ledbetter said his ultimate goal would be to make it to Major League Soccer. There is plenty of precedent for SIUE having a presence in the league, with Matt Bilyeu and Polster being taken in the first round of the MLS SuperDraft in 2016 and 2015, respectively. Six Cougars have been drafted by MLS teams.

Ledbetter also has his eye on coaching when his playing days are over.

“I hope that won't happen for a while, but my goal is to coach after I am done playing soccer,” he said.