Crystal Villarreal

Smiling and standing at 6 feet 3 inches tall, Justin Saunders stood at a small wooden podium and began to speak. He looked relaxed as he spoke about his life growing up in Athens, a really small town near Dallas. He attended and graduated from LaPoynor High School in the year 2006. Justin Saunders was one of the best basketball players on his team; in fact his senior year he was a part of the Academic All-State Team. During this time he won several awards.

As a teenager, Justin worked for the Dallas Mavericks basketball team in the year 2003. “I started out working as a ball boy,” he said. “So during games I would come in and rebound for players during their warm-ups. I worked on the court.” His other tasks included cleaning up after the players and removing and cleaning sweat or dangerous objects from the basketball court.

When he graduated high school in 2006, Justin became even more so involved with the Mavericks. He said, “I was a big athlete in high school and I knew the guy who was in charge of their basketball camps. So they do probably around 20 basketball camps a year all throughout Dallas. So he offered me a job actually coaching at these basketball camps.” He said that through out his experience he got to know a lot of different people including the players and the team’s mascot.

After high school graduation, Justin balanced his job with attending Letourneau University in Longview. He was offered a basketball scholarship there, but said,  “I played my first year but I didn’t really like it that much so I started looking for an exit strategy.” After his sophomore year Justin transferred to Stephen F. Austin State University. “It was a perfect match,” he said. “I could go home any time I wanted to if I needed it. It’s far enough away that my parents aren’t bombarding me with visits all the time.”

Justin started a Bachelor of Arts in Economics at S.F.A. but his time with the Dallas Mavericks continued. Justin got to know some of the basketball players on a personal level. He said he was even invited to one of their birthday parties! He didn’t attend as he felt it was a bit “sketchy.” Throughout his time there he said he was exposed various times to celebrities. As glamorous as it was in the beginning, Justin said he was later dulled to the experience.

As a student Justin was very involved and very dedicated to several jobs and organizations.  He was a part of Greek life on campus, specifically in the Texas Phi Chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. He was also involved with Driving Jacks. Justin also served as a tour guide for the university, a Jack Walker. During his time on campus he received the Presidential Volunteer Service Award in 2009.

In the year 2010 he graduated from S.F.A. with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. He was offered acceptance into prestigious master’s programs in universities such as Ole Miss and Tulane University but respectfully declined and decided to stay in east Texas to earn a Masters degree. He will graduate in December 2012 with an MBA. He is very ambitious and plans to get a job in finance with an oil and gas company.