Recruiting Update: Justin Bieker (2019 Jesuit HS)
Despite some recent illness, Justin Bieker is still pretty much on Cloud Nine. Can you really blame him? The memories of winning a state championship are still fresh for the versatile 6-foot-5, 170-pound swingman from Jesuit High School and they…
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Continue ReadingDespite some recent illness, Justin Bieker is still pretty much on Cloud Nine. Can you really blame him? The memories of winning a state championship are still fresh for the versatile 6-foot-5, 170-pound swingman from Jesuit High School and they are ones that will likely last for a very long time. Bieker will now move on towards working on a college recruitment that has changed gears a bit since the season first started, but for now he’s still basking in the light of being a champion.
“It was the best feeling in the world – the feeling that we accomplished everything that everyone said we couldn’t do,” Bieker said. “We accomplished what we said we would do. We worked our butts off all year to do. It’s indescribable – the best feeling in the world.”
Bieker was undoubtedly a key part of Jesuit’s success all year long. As the team’s tallest player he was often matched up with the bigs from other teams, but his ability to face the basket and create often generated mismatches on the other end as well. In the 6A Tournament, he averaged 16.0 points with many of his points coming from the line – where he knocked down 23-for-27 from the charity stripe. Bieker earned first team all-tournament honors but he was not about to give himself all the credit.
“As an individual and as a team – we improved so much,” Bieker said. “Just learning to play off each other, coming together both on and off the court. Being on this team helped improve me so much and helped everyone else as well.”
Starting before the tournament and now after, Bieker has seen his college recruitment increase. He’s been in contact with schools such as San Francisco, Loyola Marymount, Montana State, and Concordia.
“No offers yet but definitely I’ve been having phone calls from a bunch of schools and definitely some new looks,” Bieker said. “A couple of them had just seen me in the state tournament and we just started talking but it wouldn’t surprised me if they pulled the trigger on me.”
San Francisco has basically told Bieker that he’s a recruited walk-on with the opportunity to earn a scholarship after a year or so and wants him to come take a visit to campus. Earning a walk-on offer like that was Bieker’s goal when we first talked to him in the summer, but having achieved that and given the interest he’s been getting, the senior is now starting to wonder about the possibilities.
“That was the goal then but now I want to see if I can maybe even go above that,” Bieker said. “It’s still pretty early since some of these schools have just started talking to me, but in some time I think I’ll be able to start choosing a little more.”
Bieker noted that he hasn’t set a timeline for himself for a decision. He currently ranks as the #25 player in the PrepHoops Oregon Class of 2019 rankings.