Like father, like daughter.
The phrase isn’t said quite like that too often, but it applied Monday at Houston County High School. Justice Wright, the 6-2 Lady Bears basketball senior center, is following in her father Sharone’s footsteps as she fulfilled her commitment to sign with Clemson University’s women’s program.
Perhaps, in four years time, Justice will do the female equivalent of another of her father’s athletic accomplishments and become a first-round pick by the WNBA. Sharone Wright, a Macon native who starred for Clemson’s male team in the early 1990s, was the No. 6 overall pick of the 1994 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers.
“He’s my motivator. He’s always been there for me,” said Justice. “He’s the one who taught me the game of basketball. He’s a huge influence on a lot of the decisions I’ve made. He’s more than a father to me.”
Because of her father’s professional career that went from the U.S. to Toronto to Europe, Justice became quite the world traveler in her youth. Their stops included Madrid, Spain; Amsterdam, Netherlands; and China.
“I think my favorite was Amsterdam,” said Justice. “The atmosphere was great. Everyone was so active and polite. And the scenery was amazing.”
Justice has been in Houston County since she was in the sixth grade. Her touring of the United States continued through her AAU basketball club. For the past four years she’s been the focus of John Roddie’s game plan with the Lady Bears. She was Most Valuable Player of the annual Bear Brawl and helped get the program into the state playoffs for the first time since 2006.
The Division I recruiting began in earnest her junior season. Justice’s choice of Clemson wasn’t totally based on family heritage.
“Their education is amazing,” she said. “It’s a great environment. The team is all friendly. When I went up there I didn’t want to come back. The coaching staff is amazing as well.”
The only other college Justice gave serious consideration to was Florida State.
“I have a lot to work on,” she said about her basketball game. “They are going to have me playing the 4 (small forward), so I have to work on my ballhandling skills and driving to the basket. My strong suits right now are post moves, getting offensive rebounds.”
Justice’s AAU team was the Southeastern Lady Blazers. She joined them when she was in middle school, and with them she played in Atlanta, Tennessee and New Orleans.
“This was my last year playing with them,” said Justice. “I miss them. We are all deciding to get together soon before we all go our separate ways. There were plenty of D-I players. Plenty.”
Considering her background and early exposure to basketball at the highest level, the next question for Justice is if she does have the WNBA in her vision of the future. It may surprise some to hear that the place Justice would like to go live and maybe play professionally is back in Europe.
“I was thinking about (the WNBA),” she said. “But I think I want to go overseas. I just fell in love with it when I was with my dad and traveled with him. If the opportunity comes up, I would definitely go to the WNBA.”
Justice must take care of her pending career at Clemson, and even before that her senior season with Houston County, which began Tuesday. Roddie said she is closing in on 1,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds, not to mention 500 career blocks. She also took part in Houston County High cross country during the fall, which helped her shed about 15 pounds and build up the stamina for what’s waiting for her in college ball.
“I want to major in abnormal psychology,” said Justice about her academic plans. “I love helping people.”
Sharone Wright is still involved in professional basketball through the NBA Players Association and the Premier Basketball League, a developmental organization with six teams. He is the director of basketball operations for a first-year franchise, the Pee Dee Vipers in Florence, S.C.
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