By Courtney Hughey
Staff Writer
Soon after his first season on the Mira Costa varsity basketball team in his sophomore year, Junior Justin Strings now looks forward to committing to a potential school to become a collegiate athlete.
Immediately during the summer after his Sophomore year, Strings stayed in contact with college coaches in a frenzy to convince him to commit to their schools.
“A lot of coaches started noticing me after last year and during my club season,” Strings said, “For club it gave me a lot of opportunities to make myself known to coaches through tournaments and showcases.”
Strings has been in contact with University of California Davis, University of California, Santa Barbara, University of Arizona, San Diego State University, Rice University, and Northern Arizona University. With all these schools in mind, Strings stays focused on academics and basketball.
“I’m not really sure yet of deciding what college to go to right now,” Strings said, “But I would really like to go to a UC or any school in California, that would be really nice.”
Strings’ devotion to the game can be attributed to many NBA players and legendary basketball players that have served as an inspiration for him. This inspiration has taken him all the way to the college level, where he will not only pursue his dream of advancing even further, but also getting an education for afterwards as well.
“I’ve been playing my whole life and I’ve always had this goal of playing in college in the back of my mind,” Stings said, “Now I’m given a real opportunity to accomplish this and go to a great college.”
Strings is valuable to college coaches standing and 6 feet 4 inches and averaging about 19 points per game in his sophomore season. His height advantage gives him the ability to play forward and guard against taller college athletes, which is an important defining attribute in Strings’ recruitment process.
“I play more forward and center during high school because I’m usually taller than a majority of the people I’m playing against,” Strings said, “But in college I won’t be as tall as some of the other players, so I’m mostly being recruited for positions that fit my height.”
After playing basketball since he was six and playing club since he was ten, Strings can now look forward to a potential college basketball career.
“I would honestly want to play basketball after college, but I know that’s a really hard thing to do,” Strings said, “My decision for a school will be based a lot on their basketball programs, but also the academic level at the school and how it will prepare me for after basketball.”
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