'Our missing piece': North Oconee boys basketball freshman finds home in starting five

MACON — North Oconee boys basketball freshman Justin Wise is a special player.

You can ask anyone who watched his critical 19-point performance in the GHSA Class 4A state final. People noticed the way he was able to crank movement in crucial pockets that led the Titans to glory.

A member of the starting five in his first year at the varsity level, to now, just four months later, raising a glistening silver trophy over his head as a state champion.

You can ask coach Rick Rasmussen, or Titan seniors Byrd Carter and Evan Montgomery.

All three will agree with that sentiment.

"No-brainer, Division I player," Rasmussen said. "He's incredible, and we've known that all along. I'm just thankful that he got a chance to show it. He stepped up and did what we knew he could do on the biggest stage. I told him that before the game. I said, 'This is your chance to shine,' and he did."

"That's my brother right there," Montgomery said. "I pick him up every day before school. I think that might help build our chemistry. Either way, I'm so proud of that kid. He has done so much for our program, and he's a huge reason why we win."

Wise posted 19 points and two rebounds with three fouls on his back by the final buzzer. He was 7-for-16 from the field and 50% from the 3-point line as the second-leading scorer, just one point behind Carter.

"He's just going to get better and better and better," Rasmussen said. "I've had Division I players before, and I know what they look like. ... He's special. A Power Five player for certain."

It takes a definitive kind of charm to fold yourself among a group of veterans, to be one of the two underclassmen in the starting five on a state championship team. But for Wise, it was as easy as blinking or breathing; you put in the work, you reap the benefits. You put up the shots, you meet the net.

"I'm going to keep supporting him," Carter said proudly. "He's a hooper. He's definitely a hooper. The fact that he came in and executed and contributed to us at this level while being a freshman, it's phenomenal.

"He was our missing piece."

Wise will relish in this moment for as long as he can, and then he'll come back. Next year. The year after that. And the year after that, too. Three more chances, three more trophies to be brought back to Bogart.

"This is everything," Wise said. "My mom and uncle played basketball, were Division I players, and my mom went 34-0 and won the state championship in her time – so you know I had to back (the family legacy) up."

Sara Tidwell covers Athens-area high school sports and University of Georgia athletics for The Athens Banner-Herald. Contact her at stidwell@gannett.com and follow her @saramtidwell on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Freshman Justin Wise the missing piece for North Oconee boys basketball