Justin Reyes is a 21-year-old, junior guard on the basketball team from Downey, California. He is a communication major who transferred in just this year from El Camino College located in Torrance, California. He attended Downey High School in Downey, California. He chose Greenville University because he just wanted to see what it would be like changing from the California scenery he has known his whole life. That is what truly makes his story unique.
Reyes’ story that brought him to Greenville is one that is full of plenty of success, but also one of overcoming. Reyes has always been a successful basketball player and overall athlete as he averaged 15.3 points per game and shot over 43% from three-point range his last year at El Camino. Reyes mentioned, “Honestly Greenville was not my first choice, but after unexpected plans as well as tough decision making, I had a couple offers that did not plan out as I thought and I had to choose a place that I thought would fit me. I felt like the unique style that Greenville plays with would really allow me to be the best player I could be. Greenville’s style of shooting threes at a high rate and me always shooting at a decently high percentage, I loved the idea of coming out here and putting my abilities to the test.”
The transition from a junior college to a four-year university is not always easy and is definitely not the best choice for everyone. When asked what the transition was like for him so far, he said, “For me, it hasn’t so much been the basketball part for me that’s been tough, but more the transitioning of this Midwest weather and lifestyle. The weather here is unpredictable and I’m not really about this cold, but I am not gonna say I don’t like it and I can’t deal with it. I think what has made the basketball side of it easier for me is that guys I played against in junior college also transferred here. It’s cool hooping with those guys and being in the same jersey now. Especially playing [NBA] 2K against my roommate Rakim and constantly beating him makes it feel like home.”
Reyes’s roommate and teammate Rakim Murphy said, “He is an intelligent, high IQ basketball player who is very optimistic. He always seems to have a plan about what he is doing and just an easy dude to live with. He’s definitely not better than me in [NBA] 2K though; I don’t care what he says about that.”
Reyes looks forward to continuing to play for Greenville and as the Panther’s start conference play. This year’s team is ready to dominate the conference as they are always in the top 1-3 teams in the conference and show why the system is effective and Greenville continues to stick with it. The Panthers are currently 2-5 overall and 1-0 in the conference, but their early-season opponents were all highly ranked teams. Stay locked into Panther men’s basketball as they have a tough opponent in Fontbonne coming up and many other important conference matchups ahead of them.
Media by Dustin Phelps.
