A Most Valuable Lady Rabb

Written by Gordon Pynes

A coach searching for someone who can play virtually any sport and excel at it is not on an easy quest. However, Atlanta’s former Lady Rabb, Ravon Justice, certainly fit the bill. An all around sports star at Atlanta High School in the late 1990’s, Justice stayed real busy while playing and excelling in five sports. Having observed the young star 20 years ago, her drive, determination, pride, sportsmanship and teamwork were all brought to bear as a competitor. Family, friends and teammates had a lot to do with her success but an older brother and former Atlanta Girls Head Coach Donna Walker may have been the ultimate driving force. Brother Mikiel Justice was 5 years older and during the early 90’s was a key Rabbit player on the 1994 State football finalist team. The next Spring he was crowned the State track champ in the triple jump. His exploits boosted Ravon as she entered high school. Coach Donna Walker coached Lady Rabb basketball for 20 years along with several other sports. Walker instilled a sense of intense Atlanta Pride in Ravon and inspired her to take on competing at the college level.      

While in high school, Ravon did it all and racked up numerous athletic honors. She was All-District and most valuable in both Volleyball and Basketball leading the Lady Rabbs to the Regional finals in basketball. She may have been even better as a softball player. Playing catcher, she had a phenomenal batting average of over .700. Blessed with some speed, she led off the Atlanta sprint relay team in Austin at the State Track Meet. As if all that wasn’t enough, Ravon volunteered to run Cross Country to give the team five members so they could score as a team.      

Sought by a half dozen major colleges for a basketball scholarship, she first chose to play for Nicholls State. Following her freshman year it seemed to her there was no chance to be in a winning program. Ravon went to Clarendon Junior College and earned Conference player of the Year and Junior College All-American honors. Then it was on to Washington State in the Pacific Coast Conference. A big school far from her home in East Texas coupled with bad weather plagued her focus and soon she got closer to home at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma in Chickasaw. There she capped her college career in an outstanding manner. Scoring at a 19.3 per game average and amassing the third most points in a season for school history and earned All-Sooner Conference honors.  

Graduating with a degree in sociology, Ravon went directly into the college coaching ranks as an assistant at Grayson Community College in North Texas. Good fortune quickly came her way with a job at Houston Baptist where she spent five years and achieved a Master’s Degree. The basketball team had some outstanding seasons and she played a major role in their success. Next came a jump to the NCAA Division I ranks as an assistant coach with the University of Houston Cougars. In her first year with the Cougs they reached the NCAA tournament with a 26-6 record.      

Then in 2016, an offer came to be the Head Coach at Prairie View A&M. Coach Justice immediately turned the Panthers around posting an 11-2 home record in her first season. In 2017-18 Prairie View went 12-6 in the SWAC Conference missing the league title by one game.  

Following her quick head coaching success, Ravon was picked to head the Sam Houston State Bearcats women’s basketball program beginning the 2018-19 season. Her drive to instill Bearcat pride rapidly paid off as the team doubled its winning total from the previous season. This performance earned her the Southland Coach of the Year title in her first season at the Huntsville school.        

Ravon Justice epitomizes outstanding athletic achievement by an Atlanta athlete. What she learned as a Lady Rabb has been applied continually as a college player and now head coach. Her success in athletic competition and in the classroom make Ravon an outstanding addition to the Atlanta Athletics Hall of Fame’s 2019 class of inductees.  Her Atlanta Pride and passion for sports is a good example for future Rabbit athletes to emulate.