Austin Wells did not exactly stumble into a sports family. Baseball was already part of the household before he picked up a bat. His father played college ball, his mother was a college gymnast, and even his two younger brothers eventually found their own sports. Then there is the University of Arizona connection. Both of Austin Wells’s parents competed there decades before their eldest son became a Wildcat himself.

Yet Greg and Michelle Wells gave Austin more than athletic DNA. From Wiffle ball in the yard to letting him make one of the biggest decisions of his young career on his own, their fingerprints are all over his journey to the New York Yankees.

Who are Austin Wells’ parents?

Austin Wells’s parents are Greg Wells and Michelle Fernandez Wells, two former University of Arizona athletes. Greg joined Arizona after attending Butte Community College and played outfield for the Wildcats’ 1992 Pac-10 championship team. He graduated in 1994 with an economics degree and later built a career in real estate. He served as president of investments and real estate for the Marnell Companies in Las Vegas.

Michelle arrived in Arizona in 1990 on a gymnastics scholarship. Two ACL surgeries eventually ended her competitive career, after which she transitioned into coaching. Following her 1994 graduation, she became marketing director for the San Diego Padres and later worked for the Milwaukee Brewers. She has also supported Las Vegas organizations such as Make-A-Wish Foundation and The Shade Tree.

Greg and Michelle raised three sons: Austin, Carson and Mason. Carson pursued baseball, and Mason played lacrosse.

Where did Greg Wells and Michelle Wells meet?

Turns out Austin was not the first Wells family member whose life changed at the University of Arizona.

Greg and Michelle met during their time at Arizona, where both were student-athletes. Michelle had arrived from New Jersey in 1990 as a gymnast. Greg, who grew up in Maxwell, California, reached Tucson in 1992 on a baseball scholarship after attending Butte Community College. Their time on campus overlapped before both graduated in 1994.

Neither appears to have publicly shared the finer details of their first meeting, so exactly where on campus they crossed paths remains private. What is known is that the college connection became a lasting one. By 2019, the University of Arizona described Greg and Michelle as having been married for 22 years, which places their marriage around 1996 or 1997. They later relocated to Las Vegas and raised their three boys there.

Years later, Austin had his own decision to make about Arizona. His parents certainly knew the place, but Greg said they refused to push their eldest son toward their alma mater. Instead, they gave him information and allowed him to choose for himself. “We couldn’t be happier with the decision,” Greg said after Austin chose Arizona. “But it was 100 percent on his own terms.”

So, the university where Greg and Michelle’s paths first crossed eventually became part of their son’s story too.

What are Austin Wells’ parents’ ethnicities?

Austin Wells’s parents come from different family backgrounds. Greg is American and grew up in Maxwell, a small farming community in Northern California. Michelle was born Michelle Fernandez in New Jersey, but her parents were born in the Dominican Republic.

Austin’s maternal roots run deeper than a line on a family tree. His mother’s family has ties to San Francisco de Macorís, San Pedro de Macorís, and La Romana. Austin has reportedly visited the Dominican Republic since he was five, with Greg and Michelle traditionally taking the family there during summers and Christmas holidays.

That connection became especially visible in 2026. Austin represented the Dominican Republic at the World Baseball Classic, a privilege afforded to him through Michelle’s heritage.

For Michelle, that meant a piece of her family history had made its way onto one of international baseball’s biggest stages.

Inside Austin Wells’ relationship with his parents

Austin’s earliest baseball memory says plenty about Greg’s influence: playing Wiffle ball with his dad in the yard, with a bat Austin remembered as being almost bigger than he was. Michelle, meanwhile, remembered spotting his hand-eye coordination when he was only two.

But Austin credits his parents for something less visible than athletic ability. “They totally made me believe that I could do whatever I wanted as long as I put my mind to it and worked hard for it,” he said. That support, he explained, gave him the confidence to fail, learn and return stronger.

That philosophy has followed Wells from a Las Vegas backyard to Arizona and, eventually, to Yankee Stadium. Greg and Michelle’s athletic careers gave him a blueprint for sports, but their biggest contribution may have been giving Austin enough room to draw up his own.