How Austin McBroom's Basketball Fame Helped Build — and Break — His Online Empire

If you were watching YouTube in the late 2010s, odds are you stumbled across the ACE Family. They were glossy, cinematic, always smiling — and always trending. On the surface, it was picture-perfect: Austin McBroom, his wife Catherine Paiz, and their growing family sharing vlogs from their sprawling Los Angeles mansion. If you dug just a little deeper, however, there was always something a bit ... curated. Like many influencer empires, the ACE Family brand was built on a story — one that started years before the first video upload.

In fact, Austin McBroom’s basketball background was central to how his image was crafted. He wasn’t just a family man on YouTube. He was the athletic, disciplined, and charismatic one. The guy who could’ve gone pro but chose love and family instead. That narrative? It gained millions of subscribers on YouTube.

Before the fame, before the drama, and before the dozens of YouTube thumbnails with shocked expressions and all-caps titles — there was just Austin, a kid from California who could shoot. He played Division I basketball, starting at Central Michigan, transferring to Saint Louis University, and finally landing at Eastern Washington. It wasn’t the NBA, but it was competitive. It also gave him an edge: confidence, camera presence, and a body built for attention.

An opinion piece from Match Collegiate points out that his athletic background “laid the foundation for his public persona,” lending credibility and drive to his eventual influencer success. When the ACE Family launched, fans weren’t just watching a couple vlog their lives — they were watching a former athlete channel his hustle into something new.

Think of it like this: Austin didn’t just transition careers. He rebranded. The discipline from basketball? That became daily vlogging. The competitive mindset? Monetized into brand deals, boxing matches, and social media stunts.

Of course, fame doesn’t come with a pause button. You can crop things out of a vlog. You, however, cannot crop things out of real life. On May 28, 2025, Austin’s ex-wife pushed her family back into the spotlight when she opened up about the real reason her marriage ended during an episode of her Call Me Daddy podcast.

She confirmed that Austin cheated. Not just once — but with multiple women. She didn’t know exactly how many — but speculated the number could be as high as 20 different women. While he acknowledged being unfaithful, he claimed Catherine had known ... and was fine with it. Her reaction? “A gut punch.” She wasn’t fine. She didn’t know.

It’s hard not to see the irony. The very thing that made the ACE Family seem so relatable — their openness — was also what made the fallout so hard to watch. When influencers sell authenticity, the line between public and private gets dangerously blurry. And, in this case, the edits couldn’t hide the cracks.

Now here’s where things get a little messy. Was Austin’s basketball past just a stepping stone to fame, or was it part of a persona that never fully matched who he really was? Let’s be honest — when you're playing a part for the camera, it's easy to lose track of the script.

Influencer culture thrives on transformation: student-athlete turned digital dad turned social media mogul. Unfortunately, this transformation reached a point where it started to feel more like a performance for those watching the videos. As Catherine continues to open up about the end of their marriage, many fans start to look at the family photos Austin shares on his social media profiles with a new perspective.