Born in Richmond, Virginia, Justin Harper is just a small town kid that was exceptionally gifted with both his height and his basketball talent. Harper was never a prodigy on the basketball court — until his senior year on the Richmond Spiders, at least. During his last year of collegiate basketball, he averaged 17.9 points and 6.9 rebounds, with a whopping 53 field goal percentage. Harper asserted his dominance on the court as a stealthy, versatile power forward, and eventually, by the end of his senior year, he was granted the First-team All Atlantic 10 award.
However, at the end of his college basketball career, Harper fell short of the first round.