Justin Longstreet, Clark Atlanta, Interview with Joe Gaiter
Justin Longstreet: To me basketball is what I do but it’s not who I am. It’s something I picked up at an early age that’s fun, and I use it as an outlet to release any thoughts I have. I love the game of basketball because it has brought me happiness and lifelong friendships and had me travel to parts of the country I never thought I would travel too in my life. I can have a bad day, and go to the gym and my day instantly gets better for sure.
Justin Longstreet: Columbia was real fun. Playing for such a legendary program was fun as well. There was never ever a dull day at Columbia. Everyday it was some different that took place that kept you on your toes for sure. Playing basketball was fun of course, but I would say the memories I enjoy the most is the things that happened outside of basketball such as our senior picnic, or senior skip day and things of that such. Those are the memories nobody I could never forget.
Justin Longstreet: Atlanta Celtics is the best AAU program in GA by far. I actually wasn’t that good when I played for them, I was still learning and very raw, but we played great competition and I had great coaches all the way from when I was little with coach Chris, till when I went back in high school and played with Coach Demond.
Justin Longstreet: Whew, that was a time. My time there was eye opening. It made me realize that basketball isn’t just always all fun. Being that our school was a military JUCO, we had to do more than just play basketball. We marched and did other military stuff that we weren’t too fond of. One thing I can take away from there is the friendships I have with my teammates till this day. The freshman that I came in with named Jaycee, Shawn, Bubba, Los, Mike are still close as ever, along with the older guys like Tripp and Nemo that mentored most of us while we were there.
Justin Longstreet: I always wanted to play for a school in my city where I’m from. When the opportunity from Coach Melvin Scott came about, it was a no brainer and the rest is history.
Justin Longstreet: On the team I feel like I brought a balance. We had different personalities on the team last year of course, and I think I kept the balance with everybody but just keeping the energy good with my outgoing joking personality.
Justin Longstreet: That’s a tough question. I would have to say it’s between any old player from Columbia. From Travis Leslie, Amu Saaka, Chaun Tinney, J Cobb, Lance Storrs and Jordan Lemons. They all older now, so it’s a little different if we were to match up now.
Justin Longstreet: 3 songs on my pregame play list is
Justin Longstreet: I’m honestly not sure. We are supposed to, but Morehouse cancellation of their season might put absent in ours as well. So as of right now, I heard we are supposed to, but we are not sure.
Justin Longstreet: I think my story is still being written as we speak but I can share a story I never told anyone before. My untold story is that during my JUCO days, I broke my back and it left me depressed and in a negative state for a long time. Anybody that knows me knows that I am full of life and have energy all the time and always down to have fun or have a good time. When I broke my back, I lost myself for a while. I had to re-invent myself which led to multiple changes such as getting closer with God and getting more tied in with my faith. Now I go through everyday trying to make somebody smile and make somebody happy, cause I know what it feels like to be down and out of it and feeling like you can’t talk to any one because you know that nobody cares to listen. I never talked to anybody how I felt during that time, just tried to laugh it away which led it to bottle up inside of me and eat me up. So now I try to talk to my friends a lot more about things that most people are afraid to talk about. Mental health is real.
Devin Longstreet
Justin Longstreet: I want my legacy to be that I was a respectful, outgoing, God fearing man who went out his way to help anybody he could. I feel like everybody is going to have their own opinion, either off of assumptions or other people or maybe even off experience, but I want the final verdict to be that I never had a bad vibe/spirit about myself and I carried myself in a good way.
