It’s quite safe to say that Hofstra’s Men’s team would not be accomplishing much this season without the standout shooting guard, Justin Wright-Foreman. Fortunately, I had the chance to talk to the 6’1″ scoring sensation over the weekend via Instagram Direct Message. He opened up about his life growing up, what basketball has done for him, as well as his expectations and aspirations for the upcoming season.
Justin Wright-Foreman was born and raised in Queens, New York where nothing was given and all was earned. The dream of being a successful basketball player was not easy either growing up for Wright-Foreman, as he faced bumps in the road, but learned to overcome quickly.
“Basketball was tough where I’m from. You actually had to be good to play with the older kids, and I wasn’t the best. My heart is what helped me keep up with them. While playing with these older players, it made me a lot better.”-Wright-Foreman
Growing up in any city comes with temptations of drugs, alcohol, gang affiliation, etc. Justin’s neighborhood had its “rocky moments” but overall he had a “good experience” growing up greatly due to basketball.
“It kept me out of trouble, off the streets, away from gangs. Keeping my distance from these troublesome groups helped me have an opportunity to take my game to another level.”-Wright-Foreman
Justin’s steady grind growing up brought him to Christ The King Regional High School in Middle Village, New York. He averaged about 20 points per game his freshman year as well as his sophomore year. Although he felt that his time there was a “great experience”, he knew it was time to move on and explore his options.
He found the High School of Construction in his hometown of Queens, New York where he would spend his junior and senior season. This is where Justin Wright-Foreman took his name and made sure everyone around him knew of him. He exploded his first year for 21.6 points per game and in little to no time eyes starting gravitating towards him as he finally received his first offers from Hofstra University and St. Peter’s University. Those eyes continued to cling to him everywhere he went his senior season where he posted 23.8 points alongside 4.5 assists. This impressive stat line brought offers from Northeastern, Iona, St. Peter’s, High Point, Cal St. Bakerfield, and last but not least, Hofstra University.
As it is very clear, I’ll reiterate that Justin Wright-Foreman accepted his athletic scholarship from Hofstra. Although, he states, “it was a very hard decision”. At the end of the day, he knew Hofstra “was the right place for him”.
Wright-Foreman’s freshman year at Hofstra is very often overlooked simply because of how little he played, scored, so forth and so on. Myself, on the other hand, has been an avid spectator of Justin because I’ve seen nothing but futuristic success in every game he’s appeared in. With the chances he was given his freshman year, he made something of them by making nearly half the shots he took. Yes, he only took 38 shots, but it’s about taking advantage of every opportunity given to better yourself in the long run. These are small positives he has taken away from that season to improve his confidence and carry it into his sophomore season, and let me tell you, his sophomore year was something.
Justin Wright-Foreman was having a mediocre initial 10 games of his sophomore season until December 11th in the Mack Arena versus the #6 ranked team in the country, the Kentucky Wildcats. Don’t get too excited, Hofstra lost 96-73, but Wright-Foreman had a coming out party scoring 14 points and grabbing 4 rebounds all in 17 minutes.
“I started to realize I was coming into my own my sophomore season against Kentucky. Something about the stage and the opportunity that really put me on my game and staying locked in for the remainder of the season.”-Wright-Foreman
I’m glad he knew that this game was the climax of his career because if he did not know, the country was going to tell him very quickly. The rest of the year he had not scored lower than 15 points with the exception of one game (13 points). Justin had put up four 30-point games, two in which were back to back. Let’s not undermine his eleven 20 plus point games either. His minutes were doubled, rightfully so. How can you leave a man on the bench when they produced at the rate he did? If he had started that hot from the beginning of the season who knows what could have happened? Before December 11th, I’m sure Hofstra fans would never expect to say this but I’ll go out on a limb now and say they are ecstatic that Hofstra played Kentucky.
The train of momentum from sophomore year stayed right on track all through Justin’s junior year at Hofstra as he posted a fairly balanced stat line. He scored 24.4 points per game, hauled in 3.3 rebounds, and dished out 3.2 assists. This was one of the most impressive individual seasons I’ve ever witnessed a player play. His worst scoring outing of the season was an 11 point game versus James Madison University in which they won by 16 points anyway. He set his career-high in points, and assists this past season as well. Wright-Foreman tallied 39 points versus Elon University and gave out 7 assists versus William & Mary to set his career-highs in those categories. Personally, I’m impressed in his ability to consistently produce these stats, while also playing 38 minutes a game. That’s nearly the whole game! When players get tired they tend to shoot worse, that’s not the case here. He shot 45% from the field in the 2017-2018 campaign playing the shooting guard position, where the objective for that player is to consistently shoot the ball! To play the position he does while shooting as efficiently as he does under the duress of a 38 minute game, is truly spectacular. Justin Wright-Foreman finished 5th in scoring per game in the entire country this past season behind household names such as Trae Young and Kendrick Nunn, both in the NBA this upcoming season. Ultimately, Justin Wright-Foreman’s junior season put his name out onto the clipboards of NBA scouts. If he continues to improve, I strongly believe his name will transfer from clipboards to rosters before you know it.
The young man from Queens, New York, Justin Wright-Foreman has been underrated and overlooked his whole life, even after back to back standout seasons in Division I basketball. One may wonder, what more can he do to gain recognition? Wright-Foreman would tell you he’s just getting started!
Tune into Hofstra’s first game where we will be hosting Mount St. Mary’s on November 9th at 7:30 PM ET!
Hofstra University Basketball 