Justice inks with Bryan College
Morgan County: Justice inks with Bryan College
Brandon Justice became the third player from Morgan County and second from Coalfield to sign to play at Bryan College.
Justice enjoyed his signing day in front of the Coalfield student body a couple of weeks ago.
"It has been great signing with Bryan and to have an opportunity to continue my career for another four years," explained Justice.
Justice is excited about his opportunity to play at the next level and to continue playing with a pair of his AAU teammates in Steven Gunter and Tyler Winstead.
"It is good having people here local to work with on our game, especially Steven (Gunter) being one of my best friends. It is great to be rooming with Steven and Tyler (Winstead). I have played AAU ball with those two since junior high and that is great to be together in college," said Justice.
"There isn't a better feeling than knowing me and Steven are the first Coalfield guys to sign to play basketball at a four year school."
There were times when Justice didn't know if he would get an opportunity to play college basketball.
"I never really knew if I would have a chance to play college basketball. Some people told me I would never get to play, but that just made me want to work that much harder," said Justice.
During his high school playing days at Coalfield, Justice finished with 623 points and 580 rebounds. He averaged 8.5 points and a team-high 9.1 rebounds his senior season.
"I looked for defense and rebounding. Those are keys to winning basketball games. Brandon has been one of the top rebounders the past two years," Coalfield head coach Ronnie Wilson remarked.
His basketball honors include: two-time honorable mention All-District 4A Team; several player of the week honors; and 2007 All-District 4-A Tournament Team. He also earned all-region in football and was part of a county-record 39 wins in his four seasons on the gridiron.
Wilson believed Justice turned into one of his team leaders this past season.
"The thing that impressed me about Brandon his senior season was that he was a leader in practice. When we ran a sprint, he ran hard," said Wilson.
Justice praised the efforts of Coach Wilson, who coached him all four years in high school.
"High school was great and I really enjoyed playing for Coach Wilson. I appreciate all his help in the college process," said Justice.
Wilson believes the Rockwood game at the end of the season got the attention of the coaches at Bryan College.
"The Rockwood game at the end of the season was when Bryan College was here and he (Justice) played well and impressed them," said Wilson.
While Justice helped the Jackets to two straight regional tournaments, he believes they should have ended Grace Christian's season this past season.
"We made a great run right there at the end. We should of beat Grace. It has been great just having Coach Wilson as a coach and playing with my friends," said Justice.
Wilson believes with hard work and a good attitude that Justice can be successful at the next level.
"Even since basketball season ended, Brandon (Justice) is working hard, he is putting on some muscle and getting stronger. He is jumping higher," said Wilson.
"I think he will do just fine at Bryan College."
Justice has been getting acclimated to the college game by playing some pick-up games down in Dayton against college players once and twice a week the past couple of months. He knows he has a lot of work to do to succeed at the collegiate level.
"I need to work on getting stronger, work on my vertical leap, and get quicker. It (college) is nothing like high school it is a whole different ball game. I just have to work hard and get ready to play," said Justice.
"It is great to go down there and play and get used to the college level. It shows me a lot of things that I need to work on. They are a lot faster and they jump a lot higher."
Wilson points out that Justice has to improve his vertical leap.
"He is going to have to get up off the floor a little bit more. When I first started out with him, he wanted to play on his tip-toes. He still has to get some more elevation. He can have a really good shot when he works at it hard," said Wilson.
Bryan College assistant coach Matt Schock likes Justice's size and work ethic.
"We like his size. He is six-four and over 200 pounds. We are looking for him to come in and make an impact, especially on the defensive end to be able to guard the post," said Schock.
"We like the fact that he is a hard worker and we know he will improve greatly over his next few years at Bryan."
Schock believes Justice can help Bryan College on the defensive end and on the boards.
"Defensively and rebounding is where we think he will make an immediate impact," said Schock.
"He is only one of a couple of lefties that we will have in our program next year. We do want to take steps to help him develop his right hand as well. He has some pretty good moves with his left hand that I have seen so far in open gym."
Justice is very excited to get to play at Bryan College the next four years.
"I'm looking forward to playing for Coach (Matt) Schock and Coach (Don) Rekoske. I'm anxious to get down there and play," said Justice.
With Justice and Gunter at Bryan College, Wilson is excited about driving down Hwy. 27 to Dayton, Tennessee and watching these two play the next four years.
"I'm looking forward to going down next fall and watch these guys play," said Wilson.
Coach Schock believes signing several local kids will help build interest in the program.
"We're excited to get those three kids (Justice, Gunter and Winstead). What we really want to do at Bryan is sign all the good, local kids, because that will help us increase our fan base and there are a lot of good kids around here," said Schock.
Schock says Justice will start out on the JV team and have an opportunity to work his way to the varsity level during the next couple of seasons.
"Our JV program is the feeder program to our varsity. In a year or two, Brandon will hopefully be able to help us at varsity. Brandon's best basketball is ahead of him. He is going to get a lot of work, so he will have to come in and work hard," said Schock.
"Brandon is the type of young man we're looking to get at Bryan College. He is fun to be around and is respectful."
Brandon was a star pupil at Coalfield and finished his high school career with a 3.6 GPA.
"This guy is going to a small, exclusive, private school that is very expensive. To get part of his education paid for by playing basketball is a great honor. He is not going just because of basketball, but because he is also a good student and he is a good citizen," Wilson quipped.
His plans at Bryan College are uncertain, but he is considering majoring in education and physical therapy among several other fields.
Brandon is the son of Mike and Debbie Justice of Coalfield.
"My family has been behind me since I was knee high," Justice added.