St. Augustine High is a familiar school to Stanford football fans and coaches with Frank Buncom and Evan Crower as graduates who signed with the Cardinal. Receiver JR Justice is hopeful he will have an opportunity to add his name to that list.
He visited The Farm for the junior day weekend of March 4-5.
“I loved it,” he said. "The people there, they’re all great people. Coach (Tavita) Pritchard always says there is something about Stanford that is different. I definitely knew what he was talking about. I had a great time.”
Justice is somewhat of a late arrival on the recruiting stage. His junior season was his first as a main contributor for St. Augustine, one of the top teams in Southern California, and his first focusing on playing receiver.
“I could have chosen to focus on receiver earlier that way I could put myself out there more,” he said. “But I was playing half-and-half, finding out what I wanted to do. I would go back and establish myself as a receiver.”
One of his most recent offers is from USC. He also has offers from San Diego State, Fresno State, Nevada, Indiana, Boston College, Dartmouth and Columbia.
Stanford is not on the list, and Justice plans to attend the Cardinal’s camp on June 20 with the goal of earning an offer.
“If you get a Stanford offer you can’t deny it,” he said. “That’s really the goal. I know the connections you can have with a Stanford degree is crazy. That is super important to me. Being able to say I have a bachelor’s degree from The Stanford University is really one of my main goals. It’s why Stanford would for sure be my top school if I can get the offer.”
The lack of an offer hasn’t held back Justice from building a relationship with the Stanford coaches. And Justice and Buncom, who were teammates in 2015, have talked about the experience of attending Stanford.
“Frank is always telling me great things about the coaching staff, so when I met them on the visit that’s what I got with Coach Pritchard and Coach (David) Shaw and everyone,” Justice said. “They all treated me like family. I just want to build on that."
“I like their coaches," Justice said of watching practice. "I know the stereotype (in football) is screaming coaches and ones that get on you more than they should. They had a different way about them and I liked that.”
He is interested in studying in the business and finance fields so that he could be the CEO of his own company after football.
He plans to make a top list in the summer, which will be chosen from the schools he has visited by that time.
“I want to go up to Washington for sure,” he said. “Duke wants me to visit. Fresno State wants me to visit.”
He was in touch with the previous Cal staff and wants to connect with the new coaches. And with USC nearby he will visit the Trojans again, as well.
