Friday Features: Beau Justice follows big brother South and Valdosta State profits
By Mike Perrin
Beau Justice has been chasing big brother Blake for years. Finally, he caught him – sort of.
Beau is four years younger than his brother, so the men from Peebles, Ohio, were never able to play together on the same team. Now that Beau is a sophomore guard for Valdosta State University, he is finally on the same squad with Blake. The Justices don’t share the court, though, except in practice as Blake is a graduate assistant after completing his playing days last season as a member of the Blazers’ 1,000-point club.
“I feel like I hit a gold mine, having a brother who has recently played for the same university as a coach,” said Beau, a 6-foot-2, 175-pounder, who is one of three Blazers to start all eight games this season for coach Mike Helfer’s squad, which dropped to 6-2 overall and 1-1 in Gulf South Conference play after Thursday night’s 85-77 loss at Christian Brothers.
There’s another “almost” family connection between the Justices and Valdosta State. Helfer and the Justices’ dad, Brett, almost played ball together at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. “They were one year apart,” Beau said. “My dad was finished playing basketball the year Coach Helfer came to Capital. He did recruit Blake and I using some Ohio connections, I believe. I think since Coach and Dad both went to Capital, Coach was not hesitant to give Dad a call.”
While Helfer wanted the Justices in south Georgia, they both took a detour. “Out of high school, Blake originally committed early and went to the University of Akron,” Beau said. “After battling with injuries there he decided to transfer. The TV announcer for Akron actually was Coach Helfer’s college coach. He put Coach Helfer in contact with Blake, which led to a visit.
“Coming out of high school, I had mostly Division I schools recruiting me, but I had two Division II schools – Valdosta and West Liberty. I ended up going to West Liberty (in Wheeling, W. Va.), I think because it was closer to home and I was a little nervous moving far away at first.
“After not having a very good experience there, I decided I wanted to transfer and I really already knew where I was going to go if they would have me. Blake’s experience here definitely played a major role in me wanting to come, but a lot with that I think was the relationship I developed with Coach Helfer over the years Blake was here. Obviously, the relationship between my family and (Helfer) his boys is a great connection. Blake did not really recruit me, but he told me what it was like as a player here and what it would be like to have Coach Helfer as a coach and that he loved it and thought I would, too.”
Beau was a finalist for Ohio’s “Mr. Basketball,” who shattered the Peebles High scoring record with 2,370 career points. He also set the single-game (51), single-season (839) records and averaged 33.4 a game as a senior. In one District tournament game, Beau hit 15-of-15 shots from the floor – 3-for-3 behind the arc – and 7-of-7 from the foul line on his way to 40 points.
So, while Blake finished with 1,112 points for the Blazers and Beau has averaged 14 in his first eight games and leads the team in minutes played, the younger brother said their games aren’t the same.
“In high school we both played the same position as a one or two, I always leaned more to the one spot when I think he leaned more to the two,” Beau said. “I think we played a little different then in the sense of I’m more of a high-motor guy who likes to play fast, push the ball and attack. He is more of a ‘read’ guy who can catch and shoot quickly and can get easy buckets from that.
“As we got older and both still worked on our game, I could see we were getting more similar because our game was evolving and we have improved on our weaknesses. Some of his weaknesses are my strengths and some of my weaknesses were his strengths. But like I said, we have become more similar since we work together all the time.”
What about on the other end of the court? “Defensively we are different in that I am more of the on-ball defender, where Blake is really good at reading – like I mentioned – so he is very good at help side and getting into passing lanes.
“I believe I enjoy defense more because I used to always have to guard him growing up and he always scored on me. When it is ‘make-it take-it’ you have to get better on defense to get the ball,” Beau said with a chuckle.
Follow Perrin on Twitter, @mikeperrin27. Email comments to: mikeperrin27@gmail.com.
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