School: Neshaminy
BASKETBALL
Favorite athlete: DeJuan Blair (Pittsburgh Panthers)
Favorite team: Pittsburgh Steelers
Favorite memory competing in sports: Competing in AAU Nationals
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: “In an AAU game, I was on a breakaway and went up for a dunk but jumped too far away and got completely rim blocked. I then tried to play it off like it never happened. My teammates still to this day make fun of me because of it.”
Music on iPod: Jay-Z, Kanye West, Common, Talib Kweli, Lupe Fiasco
Future plans: “Go to college, major in exercise science and hopefully one day open up my own sports training facility.”
Words to live by: “Everything happens for a reason.”
One goal before turning 30: “Own my own business”
One thing people don’t know about me: “My mom still packs my lunch every day for school.”
Justin Deeter’s voice takes on a thoughtful tone as he speaks about his basketball career.
“I try not to think about it – what could have been,” the Neshaminy senior said.
Deeter was on a collision course with stardom.
That much is certain.
By the time he was in seventh grade, he was already 6-1 and weighing in at 175, and he could dunk the basketball.
“I matured at a young age,” he said of a growth spurt that saw him grow close to five inches in seventh grade.
It was hardly a surprise that he was attracting the attention of his future high school coaches.
“We knew he was a kid that was going to be a big part of our program,” Neshaminy coach Jerry Devine said.
Others also were sitting up and taking notice, and Deeter – rated one of the top seventh graders in the state - was already receiving letters from Division One coaches who had seen him compete on the AAU circuit.
“That’s all I did,” Deeter said. “I played basketball.”
With his identify so closely linked to the sport he loved, Deeter’s world come crashing down when –during the fall of eighth grade - he went down with a knee injury that was diagnosed as a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
The devastating injury - which kept him out of action for the better part of two years - could have marked the beginning of the end.
It didn’t.
Neither did a second torn ACL in the same knee just three games into his junior season.
After undergoing seven months of intense rehab, Deeter has returned to the court this winter, and he’s regaining the form that made him such a coveted recruit. But he is not the same person who lived and breathed basketball.
“The injuries really made me grow up and figure out what’s important,” Deeter said. “I found out there are a lot of things I like other than basketball, and there are more important things in life than basketball.
“Going through all this made me put a lot of thing into perspective which I would never have thought of earlier.”
While his perspective may have changed, his passion for the game has not.
“Sitting out two years, I really figured out I love this game,” Deeter said. “Sitting out last year and watching everybody play, I felt I have so much more to give.
“I’m not done yet.”
Not by a long shot.
Deeter recently was named the MVP of the Holy Ghost Jack Schott Memorial Tournament. In two games, he had a combined 43 points and 22 rebounds.
“It’s the reason why you coach – to see that,” he said of Deeter’s relentless determination to come back. “Justin could have easily given up, but he never let any of those obstacles keep him down.
“Through high school, college and now coaching, I have never seen a kid that has that desire inside of him and the work ethic he has. It’s unparalleled.”
Deeter’s story is an inspiration to anyone who has suffered a setback. He was a young athlete who had it all – talent, athleticism and desire.
Then came the first torn ACL, an injury that was complicated because he was still growing.
“I had to wait three or four months to get my surgery because they wanted to make sure my growth plates wouldn’t be affected by it,” he said. “I couldn’t do anything.”
Doing nothing wasn’t easy for someone who had devoted himself completely to his sport.
“That’s all I did – play basketball,” Deeter said. “Everyone knew me as a basketball player. Once they took that away from me – to be honest, I became depressed. I went through a couple of months of depression. What do I do now? I really had to find myself. It not only affected me physically but also emotionally.
“I was a wreck.”
Despite his physical limitations, Deeter was brought up to the high school as a super frosh.
“He was seven months out of surgery, and he had a really tough freshman year,” said Devine, who coached jayvee that season but took over the helm of the varsity the following year. “He couldn’t really do anything because he had this big brace on. It was very frustrating.”
“My knee was still hurting a lot,” Deeter said.
The following year, Deeter was healthy but still trying get back in the flow after two seasons away from the sport.
“It was like a whole new thing,” he said. “It was hard.”
“His mind wanted to do things, but his body didn’t allow him,” Devine said. “Towards the end of the year, he started to look comfortable.”
As a junior, Deeter stepped onto the court in the best shape of his life, ready to have a breakout season.
“I trained three times a day the summer going into that season,” he said. “I was fine. I didn’t have to play with my brace anymore. I was starting to get my athleticism and my quickness back. Man, I was feeling great.”
He was also playing great, averaging in the neighborhood of 16 points and 12 rebounds a game.
“He was playing phenomenally,” Devine said.
Until the third game of the season against Central Bucks West.
“This one play at the end of the game – I slipped on a wet spot, and my knee just gave out,” Deeter recalled.
He knew immediately the extent of his injury.
“I knew when I did it I tore (my ACL) because I had done it before,” Deeter said. “I was at a loss for words. It was like, ‘I can’t be doing this again. This can’t be happening to me.’”
But it was.
“The first couple of days were the worst,” he said. “I really didn’t want to talk to anybody.”
It wasn’t long before Deeter changed his mindset.
“After the first couple of weeks, I decided I had to make an agreement with myself – I won’t become depressed again. I need to stay positive. I still have one more year,” he recalled. “It’s a part of life. Everybody goes through hard times in life.
“I figured it would make me a stronger person in the long run.”
Deeter underwent surgery in March and worked tirelessly to rehab his knee.
“Basketball is in his blood,” Devine said. “He would do anything to get back.
“Even on his way back, if he’s allowed in the gym, he’ll be shooting foul shots. You see him trying to hobble on one leg, and you almost had to throw him out of the gym to protect him from himself.”
For seven months, Deeter worked out three hours a day, six days a week.
“I had to get myself in the best shape I could for the season,” he said of his final high school go-round. “I knew I wanted to play.
“This time wasn’t as hard because I knew what I had to do.”
He received clearance to play a week before the season started.
“The first couple of games I was still adjusting to the speed of the game,” he said. “The speed of the game is so much different than the speed of practice.
“I could do practice all I wanted to, but when you get into a game, it’s such a different atmosphere.”
After a few games, Deeter started to feel like ‘the old me’ - the old me that was a very good basketball player. At 6-4, he is an imposing presence, and his teammates affectionately refer to him as ‘the beast.’
“He’s our leader,” Devine said. “The kids look up to him, and they respect him.
“You can see he labors a little with his leg, but he’s still effective, still playing great. He’s still one of the top kids in the league at where he’s at now.”
During the holiday tournament, Deeter quietly put up big numbers while shooting close to 70 percent from the floor.
“Deep down inside, I know I can play like that,” he said. “I think I can play like that every game. That’s what I’m going out to prove right now.
“This tournament (title) gives our team a lot of confidence going into the important conference games that are coming up, which are really important as far as making districts. I feel as though this is going to be a good momentum builder.”
Despite undergoing surgery 10 short months ago, Deeter is once again attracting considerable interest from college coaches, but he may forego college for one year, opting instead to attend prep school for a year.
“I really didn’t play that much last year and missed all of the AAU season, which was devastating because last year was the biggest year for college scouting,” he said. “I’m going to wait to the end of the season and see where it goes from there.
“What I’m really happy about is I know I can improve so much. This isn’t anything. There are so many other parts of my game I can improve on in the years to come when I’m playing college basketball.”
Deeter says he will never let go of his dream of one day playing collegiate basketball.
“That’s always been my dream ever since I was younger watching college basketball,” he said. “I am going to do whatever it takes. I’m never going to give up.
“You have to go through things like (the knee injuries), but I feel like if I keep working hard, everything is going to come together.”
And when it does, no one will be prouder than his high school coach.
“I said to him, ‘Justin, do you know what the biggest moment in my coaching career is going to be? To see you in a college uniform and get a picture taken with you,’” Devine said. “The kid deserves it – the way he works and the type of kid he is.”
It’s been a long and difficult journey, but Deeter has made the trip, and he’s reaping the rewards for his unwavering dedication and hard work.
“There are so many other kids that are in my situation,” he said. “I try to reach out to people that have knee injuries – tell them not to give up.
“A lot of kids don’t want to come back. They want to give up. I want people to know there’s hope.”
And Deeter is a walking billboard for that hope.
