Friday, March 19, 2010 Last Update: 02:27 am
Friday, March 19, 2010 Last Update: 02:27 am
You can’t say Justin Roper doesn’t keep busy.
The Buford, Ga., junior was up at dawn Tuesday and at the gym for spring football conditioning by 6:30 a.m. He was off to class for the rest of the morning, and by 3:30 p.m., he was back in the gym. But this time, his job was to chase Jack McGillis, Ryan Staudacher and Derek Selvig around the hardwood.
Roper, who spent this fall splitting time under center with Griz quarterback Andrew Selle, is once again splitting time, but now it is between the football field and the basketball court.
After making the two-hour trip from the FCS National Championship game in Chattanooga, Tenn., to his hometown Dec. 18, and spending two weeks relaxing over Christmas break, Roper decided to fly back to Missoula early to join the Griz hoops team on Jan. 4.
With football conditioning on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; weight training Tuesdays and Thursdays; and basketball practice up to five days a week, Roper’s day planner is plenty full. That’s exactly how he likes it.
“It keeps me on my toes for sure,” Roper said. “But it’s the grind of just getting stuck doing one sport that gets to be a battle. I’m doing this for a change of scenery. Basketball helps refresh me mentally.”
The whole thing started as a joke, when Roper bumped into head basketball coach Wayne Tinkle in the hallway at the Adams Center this fall.
“I jokingly asked him if he could still shoot,” Tinkle said. “And I asked him if he was ever going to come play for me.”
Roper took the offer seriously.
“He didn’t know at the time that I had actually been thinking of doing it,” Roper said. “I decided to bring it up with (former head football coach Bobby) Hauck, and he said he was fine with it, so I figured why not?”
For Roper, it was just another challenge in what has been an illustrious athletic career.
Roper lettered in four sports during high school: football, basketball, swimming and track. He started as a guard on his basketball team, clocked in under one minute in the 100-meter breaststroke and finished third in the state high jump.
In 2007, Roper was a redshirt freshman starting quarterback for the University of Oregon. He passed for a record four touchdowns and led the Ducks to a 56–21 Sun Bowl victory over South Florida before joining the Griz football team last year.
Tinkle had an idea of Roper’s prowess when he took him on, but had to see his athleticism firsthand to believe it.
“I sort of knew, but it really came home to me the second day he practiced with us,” Tinkle said. “He went up and threw down this incredible tomahawk dunk. About half the guys missed it. So I made him do it again, and everybody got to see how explosive he really was.”
Still, even for an athlete of Roper’s caliber, getting in basketball shape has been a chore.
“I guess it would be one thing if I was a cornerback or a receiver, but being a quarterback isn’t all that physically demanding,” Roper said. “The first couple days out here were brutal.”
Because of NCAA travel restrictions, Roper is not allowed to travel with the team, though he is already suiting up for home games.
Roper has yet to log any minutes, but Griz coaches aren’t ruling out the possibility of adding him to the rotation.
“It’s too soon to say what’s going to happen,” Tinkle said. “We’re looking at it as his coming in and helping us with practice for now and waiting to see for the future.”
That’s fine with the unassuming Roper. For now, he isn’t shooting for hoops stardom.
“I know I’m not here to be an All-American,” Roper said. “I came out to have fun and help the team if I possibly can. Any minutes I could get would be awesome, but I’m happy to just work hard and do what I’m told.”
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