Justius Lowe is the perfect Oregon Duck

Published 9:27 am Tuesday, December 31, 2024

You don’t ascend to the title of being the No. 1 team in the country without recruiting well.

While it’s easy to get caught up in the number of stars next to a player’s name on the various recruiting outlets, the actual process of identifying talent and recruiting is so much more than that. Beyond meeting the physical measurements and passing the eye test on tape, No. 1 Oregon’s wide receivers coach Junior Adams knows the traits he looks for when filling out his room.

“Do they love it? Are they competitive? Are they tough? What’s their football IQ like?” Adams said about how he recruits. “Obviously the skillset, (But also) the connection piece. Does he fit as a person in what we want?”

Adams’ vision for recruiting and offering receivers has been with him since his time in Eugene began in 2022, with one of the first players he signed — redshirt sophomore receiver Justius Lowe — checking all the boxes of the perfect Oregon Duck.

Love

Self-admittedly, Lowe was a late bloomer when it comes to his love of the sport.

“I wasn’t really into football like that,” Lowe said about his childhood. “I was more of a basketball kid. I was always the fastest kid, so track and stuff like that (were more my thing. But) when I started playing football, I found my love for it.”

Lowe didn’t start playing football until high school. According to him, it took some convincing to get on the gridiron. First, it was a handful of childhood friends talking him into the idea of adding football cleats alongside track spikes in his closet at Lincoln High School in Portland. After he was won over, convincing his mom to let him play.

“I had to talk my mom into it because (she) wasn’t big on the physicality of it,” Lowe said.

His mom eventually came around to the idea, with Lowe blossoming into a two-way star for the Cardinals at both receiver and cornerback. His recruitment saw a meteoric rise after transferring to Lake Oswego High School, closing out his senior season as a four-star athlete and the No. 2 player in his home state of Oregon.

Initially committing to Utah in 2021, Lowe flipped to Oregon in January of 2022 after head coach Dan Lanning’s and Adams’ hiring. Lowe said staying in his home state for school has been a blessing, with his loved ones being able to attend Ducks games on a regular basis.

“Having my family, all my supporters, who are from (Oregon) coming to every game supporting me, having my family as my little audience, it’s been great,” Lowe said.

Toughness

While Lowe may not be the most physically imposing player on the field, teammate and fellow receiver Traeshon Holden knows first-hand just how tough he is.

Holden had been ejected against Ohio State and suspended for the following week’s contest against Purdue due to an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. It was Lowe who filled the redshirt senior’s shoes in the offense not just against Purdue, but against Illinois as well while Holden got back up to speed.

In Holden’s stead, Lowe recorded four catches for 79 yards and a touchdown. The mid-October production had been the most of his three-year career to that point, but what he did as a blocker in the run game was just as important.

“(The coaches) use us the same,” The 6-foot-3, 205-pound Holden said of his 6-foot, 185-pound counterpart. “When I (was out, Lowe) had to go in there and do the same thing I was doing (like) blocking the big defensive tackles and linebackers. He can get in there and bang in the trenches.”

Holden said he and Lowe are often lifting partners in the weight room, making note that the latter is significantly stronger than you’d think just looking at him. Oregon’s faith in Lowe to block opponents who may outweigh him by 50 to 100 pounds is a prime example of that strength.

But strength is also a mental attribute, with Adams being quick to bring up Lowe’s mental toughness as an athlete.

“He’s a testament to development and that the process does work,” Adams said about Lowe’s physical and mental development since joining the team three seasons ago. “There have been hard days, really hard days for him dealing with some knickknack injuries, but the process works.

“He’s stuck to it and that’s hard, that’s really hard for a lot of kids. You’re going to question it in the morning sometimes when you’re getting up… And he’s questioned it, he’ll admit that, but he’s stuck to it and come a long way.”

Brains

While his toughness and passion don’t go ignored, Lowe’s calling card is his intelligence. Anyone who has anything to say about the receiver brings up just how brilliant he is.

“In our room, (Lowe is) probably got the highest football IQ,” Adams said. “He’s one of the guys that wants to be the smartest guy in the room, in a good way. He knows all three positions, he knows the offense inside and out… He’s over a 3.0 student (too).”

Adams continued to sing the praises of Lowe’s brains at all opportunities, saying that he’s helped push the entire receiving room’s understanding of the playbook forward.

“He asks a lot of questions. Or he’ll answer questions before anyone else does,” Adams said. “He’s super competitive in that way. He’s helped that room in the classroom as far as drawing things up… They’ll race each other to see who can draw things up the fastest and cleanest, (Justius) is one of the guys who’s challenging his (peers) in that way.”

The application of his intelligence to the football field was one of the easier steps in his development, according to Lowe. A finance major with a knack for numbers and interest in economics, Lowe says he approaches his learning of the playbook the same way he does his schooling.

“I’m a very school-oriented guy,” Lowe said. “I love taking notes, writing essays, reading, all of that. So reading the playbook (and) taking my own notes the same way I would with a (textbook). That’s really helped.”

The collective learning and development amongst Oregon’s receiving corps is a mutual experience according to Lowe. While he’s able to push his peers on the whiteboard and in the classroom, players like Holden and Tez Johnson have helped him refine his technique between the hashes.

“Everybody in the room learns from everybody,” Lowe said. “I’ll learn a release from Traeshon (Holden), I’ll learn a secondary release from Tez (Johnson) or how to really work a route, just little things like that. We all learn from each other, it’s the benefit of being in a talented receiver room.”

Vibes

The final piece of Adams’ equation — how players fit into the group at large — is another layup for Lowe.

From receiver Evan Stewart giving him the nickname “Just-ee-uhs,” to coaches and teammates alike routinely bringing him up as one of the most underrated players on the team, Lowe just seems to get along with everybody.

Nothing made it more evident than when Lowe caught his first — and only — touchdown of his career in a 38-9 win over Illinois on Oct. 26. Lowe crossed the goal line for the score and was quickly greeted by a host of teammates to celebrate the achievement. Among them was Holden, who Lowe was still playing over.

“(Lowe) is like my little brother,” Holden said about running over to celebrate with Lowe. “He and I are so close. Since I’ve been here (we’ve been close)… Watching him go in there and get his first touchdown, that s–t was so turnt for me that I felt like I scored.”

Although Lowe’s season of 21 catches for 203 yards and the single touchdown grab aren’t something that will turn heads on the box score, his addition to the team in every category has been a home run for the Ducks.

As he goes from redshirt sophomore to redshirt junior, Lowe’s role also looks set to increase with the departures of fifth-year seniors Holden and Johnson as well as the likelihood of teammates deciding to transfer.