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Some Down Time
Junior point guard Justin Joyner, a two-year starter for the Gauchos, will miss the 2008-09 season after having two surgeries to repair his right wrist in the off-season. Joyner played the entire 2007-08 season with the injured wrist and, in fact, played in and started all 32 games. He had the first surgery on his wrist in the spring of 2008 and the second in the latter portion of the summer. He is expected to apply to the NCAA for an injury redshirt in the 2008-09 season and expects to make a healthy return for his junior year in 2009-10.
He Makes A Good Point
Despite playing with an injured right wrist all season, Joyner had a very good sophomore season as the Gauchos' starting point guard. While his scoring average dipped from 4.8 points per game as a freshman to 3.8 points per game as a sophomore, he had a significant increase in his assist total. After contributing 2.9 assists per game in his first season, that figure jumped to 3.6 per game in 2007-08. He was among the Big West Conference leaders in the category, and he easily led the team.
A Good Ratio
Not only was Joyner a good playmaker, he was a good playmaker with good handles. As a sophomore, the Antioch, Calif., native had 116 assists, but only 56 turnovers. His assist to turnover ratio of 2.1-to-1.0 was by far the best on the Gauchos, and it was also the top ratio in the Big West Conference. Despite handling the ball far more than any of his teammates, Joyner ranked fourth on the team in turnovers. In 32 games, all starts, he had more turnovers than assists just two times.
A Couple Of Offensive Explosions
Joyner is a passer by trade, not a scorer, but on a couple of occasions during his sophomore season, he got very offensive. His first scoring burst came in a key road win against Cal State Fullerton when he made 5-of-6 shots overall, including all three of his three-point attempts, and finished with 13 points. Joyner's second burst came in a home game against UC Irvine when he made 6-of-10 shots overall, including a career-high four three-point baskets. He finished with 16 points against the Anteaters, also a career-high. The double-figure totals against Cal State Fullerton and UC Irvine were the only two of the season for Joyner.
After A Slow Shooting Start, A Solid Shooting Finish
In 2007-08, Joyner did not get out of the starting blocks quickly in terms of his shooting. Although he did have a 4-for-6 performance against Harvard in the second game of the season, he had made just 10 of his first 38 shots from the field, 26.3%. Joyner did, however, pick up the shooting pace. After the sluggish start, he made 34 out of his final 75 attempts, a more than respectable 45.3%. He was also more successful from three-point range as the season evolved. After hitting just two out of his first 14 three-point field goal attempts, 14.3%, Joyner hit 14 of 38 to close the season, 36.8%.
Notes
2008-09
Justin Joyner will sit out the 2008-09 season after off-season surgery on his right wrist.
2007-08
Despite playing with a broken bone in his wrist for the entire 2007-08 season, Joyner was one of three UCSB players to start all 32 games...Has started 60 games at point guard in his first two seasons...Averaged 3.8 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.1 steals, and a team-leading 3.6 assists per game...His assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.1-to-1.0, was among the best in the Big West Conference...Had a season-high seven assists against UC Irvine and Utah Valley...Passed off for six assists against Pepperdine and at Ball State...Overall, Joyner had four or more assists 17 times, and at least two in all 32 games...One of the most important defensive player on the team, Joyner had 35 steals as a sophomore, including 15 in the final eight games...Had a season-high three steals five times, two or more 10 times, and at least one on 21 occasions...Scored a career-high 16 points against UC Irvine...His only other double-figure scoring effort was when he had 13 in a win at Cal State Fullerton...Scored seven or more points eight times...Although he shot 38.9% from the field, Joyner made 30-of-63, 47.6%, over the final 19 games of the season...Made 16 three-point baskets on the season, the fourth highest total on the team...Of his 16 three-pointers, seven came in two games as he made 4-of-6 against UC Irvine, and 3-for-3 at Cal State Fullerton...Joyner also had two three-pointers in games against UNLV and Utah Valley.
2006-07
Joyner played in 28 of 29 games in 2006-07, starting 26...Selected to the Big West All-Freshman Team...He was the first freshman to start at the point for UCSB in six years...Averaged 4.8 points, 2.9 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game...His 81 total assists were the most on the team as were his 36 steals...Joyner's assist total ranked third all-time among Gaucho freshmen and his steals were the second most ever by a freshman...Joyner played 797 minutes during his first season, the third highest total on the team...He had a season-high 10 assists in a win over Cal State Fullerton...Joyner's second highest total, seven, came in the win at UNLV...Had six assists in games against Cal State Northridge and San Jose State, and at Cal Poly...He had five or more assists six times...In fact, Joyner had four or more assists 10 times and the Gauchos went 9-1 in those games...Had the second best assist-to-turnover ratio on the team with 1.5 assists for every turnover...Scored 10 or more points four times, including a personal best 15 in a win at Cal State Northridge...Three of his double-figure scoring efforts came in consecutive games, wins at Northridge, Pacific and UC Davis, and over that span Joyner averaged 12.3 points while making 12-of-19 shots overall, 63.2%, and 7-of-11 from three-point range, 63.6%...For the season, he shot 36.8% overall and 27.3% from three-point range...Missed his first 14 three-pointers and finished the season by making 18-of-52, 34.6%...Made a trio of three-pointers in the win at Northridge...Had two three-point baskets in four other games...Joyner had a high of three steals five times and he had two or more 13 times, including a stretch of five straight games...Although Joyner averaged just 2.6 rebounds per game, he did have four or more seven times, including a season-high seven in wins against Fresno State and at UC Davis.
High School
Joyner attended De La Salle High School in Concord, Calif., and started at point guard for its California State Division I championship team...Joyner made a pair of free throws with 7.7 seconds remaining in the state title game to help De La Salle secure a 43-40 win...Helped his team to a 32-1 overall record and a No. 3 national ranking in 2005-06...Joyner was selected Division I All-State by CalHiSports.com, First Team All-East Bay by the Contra Costa Times, First Team All-Bay Area by the Oakland Tribune, Second Team All-Bay area by the San Francisco Chronicle and Second Team All-Northern California by NorCal Preps...He was named Player of the Year in the Bay Valley Athletic League as well as First Team All-BVAL...As s senior, he averaged 10.4 points, 5.6 assists and 5.2 rebounds per game...He also led De La Salle in three-point baskets with 66...Made 41.0% of his three-point attempts...Scored a career-high 25 points against Ygnacio Valley HS and Hogan HS, both during his junior season...Had his career-high 12 assists as a senior in a state playoff game against Antioch HS...Joyner's career-high of nine rebounds came in a state playoff game against Kennedy HS during his sophomore season...Had three games with six three-point baskets, once as a senior against Oak Ridge HS and two as a junior against Hogan HS and Ygnacio Valley HS...Joyner averaged 10.1 points, 5.1 assists and 4.3 rebounds as a junior and 5.3 points, 4.6 assists and 4.2 rebounds as a sophomore...In his final three years at De La Salle, the program won three Bay Valley Athletic League titles, two Northern California championships and one California State Championship...Coached by Frank Allocco.
Personal
Justin Keith Joyner was born February 25, 1988 in Martinez, Calif....The son of Brian Joyner and Cheryl Zocchi...His most memorable moment in sports was when his high school won the state championship and the celebration that followed...His favorite movies include "Rocky", "Braveheart", "He Got Game" and "Friday Night Lights"...Jason Kidd, Frank Allocco, Jr. and Michael Jordan are his favorite athletes...Hopes to major in communication studies.
