If you followed University of Tennessee basketball in the late sixties, you must be familiar with the awesome college hoops career of Billy Justus.
Before attending UT, Justus graduated from Fulton High School in East Tennessee. There, he was name All-State in football (1964) and All-State in basketball (1964 and 65). He also received Honorable Mention All-American honors for football in 1964 and was All-American in basketball in 1965.
In 1965, Justus attended the University of Tennessee where he played for the freshman football team. His college athletic career turned toward basketball and Justus helped lead his team to the SEC Championship in 1967. He was a three-year starter for the team. He was named All-SEC three consecutive years and in 1968 was named an NCAA Basketball Academic All-American.
In his senior year, Justus was captain of the Vols and was named NCAA All-American. He was the NCAA free throw shooting champion that year (1969) at 90+%. He was chosen to play in the East-West College All-Star Game and his team was invited to the National Invitational Tournament (NIT).
Known for his free-throw accuracy, Justus still holds three NIT free throw records. He also holds three single game NCAA Madison Square Garden free throw records – standing the test of almost 25 years.
Justus was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers (NBA), Denver (ABA) and the Dallas Cowboys (NFL).
After college, he travelled extensively teaching ball-handling and shooting skills for Converse at coaches’ clinics and basketball camps throughout the United States.
In 1990, Billy Justus was inducted into the Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame. After the age of 30, Justus began an amateur tennis career. Since taking up the sport, he was won numerous USTA amateur tennis championships and continues to play competitively today.