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MCC team welcoming Justice from Colorado
FREDERICK, Colo. — There were a lot of things that prompted Luke Justice’s decision to attend McCook Community College in Nebraska.
The former Frederick High School player drew some interest from Valley City State University in South Dakota, Waubonsee Community College in Illinois and schools in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
But Justice’s first exposure to McCook was through a former assistant coach who eventually left the program.
“He got me on a Zoom visit with the head coach (Jacob Brandl). He knew what he was doing,” Justice said. “An old assistant at Mountain View High School (Kole Brandon) is a new assistant here. He’s been helping me. The first day, he was telling me what I needed to do to get ready to play college basketball.”
“The coach showed me the money that was available,” Justice said. “Athletes have access to the gym 24/7. I can go in there any time I feel like it. One of our bigs (Noah Boyed, a 7-footer from St. Lucia) is getting a lot of attention from college coaches. We’ve had coaches from Nebraska, the University of California-San Diego, Arizona State at our practices. It shows me our coach has connections. If he (Boyed) can commit to Baylor, a top-10 program, the coach knows what he’s doing.”
Justice, who is the youngest player on the squad, has had a chance to work on the mental side of his approach to basketball as well.
“Because I am the youngest, I know I’m going to have to work 10 times harder,” Justice said. “I wasn’t going to let it bother me. I knew that was a good thing.”
Justice is excited to play for a legitimate college program at McCook Community College.
The former Frederick High School basketball player said he’s staying humble and taking it a day at a time.
“I’m developing that mental piece,” he added. “These players are older. They have more experience. They are talking, and I take their criticism without taking it personally. One of our guards (sophomore Ty Foster, from Brooklyn), is teaching me more about the college game.”
Justice is also making the switch to being responsible for his schedule and his academics.
“Distance from home played a little bit of a factor (in my college choice),” he said. “I’m away from my family. I’ve always been around them my whole life. Getting up and leaving them and being on my own path was hard. But being four and a half hours away is all right.”
Even so, there was an adjustment to taking on the added responsibility.
“I realized I’ve got some homework to do,” he said. “It’s a big thing, maturity. Because there are so many older players on the team, they have helped me mature. Ty showed me a huge way to keep on top of my grades. If I do some kiddy stuff on the floor, he’ll remind me that this isn’t high-school ball.”