Dunwoody High's Justin King Blazing a Trail to Tennessee

Last time they ran a foot race years ago, Justin King lost to his older brother, Jerry.

Last week, when Justin verbally committed to play football in the fall of 2012 at University of Tennessee, the Dunwoody High player still was following in the footsteps of his brother, a former Wildcat and rising third-year player 100 miles west of Knoxville at Cookeville's Tennessee Tech.

"He always thinks he's faster than me, but I doubt that now," Justin King said. "He actually beat me, but that was in sixth or seventh grade."

At 6-foot-3, 215 pounds, Justin King is three inches taller but 15 pounds lighter than Jerry. Similar in size, Justin hopes his senior season's stats this fall at Dunwoody parallel ones Jerry had there.

Jerry's name remains a household one at Dunwoody, and likewise, Justin's is fast becoming one.

" If you saw him, you might not think he's a great football player," Justin said. "But at Dunwoody, people knew who Jerry King was. I'm always hearing his name constantly. He had a motor and kept going, kept fighting all the time."

As a linebacker, Jerry achieved All-DeKalb County honorable mention as a sophomore and first-team selection as a junior. And despite playing only four games as a Wildcats senior because of injury, he still had 64 total tackles, including four for loss and three sacks. He was an All-Northside player and among the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's "Juniors to Watch, the year he had 111 tackles.

"The team camaraderie we had at Dunwoody was incredible," Jerry said of his four varsity seasons at Dunwoody. "We worked hard and played hard. We bonded real well."

Justin, best known as a quarterback at Dunwoody but recruited as a linebacker at Tennessee, rushed for 413 yards and three touchdowns as a Wildcats junior last fall. He also passed for 218 yards and three scores, and of his 24 tackles at linebacker, 15 were unassisted. With him central to the action, the Wildcats (6-4) recovered from and 0-3 start and culminated their season with four straight victories, including shutouts against Marist (20-0), Chamblee (31-0) and Douglass (41-0).

"It's (Justin's) combination of athleticism and play-making skills that makes him appealing," Dunwoody coach Jim Showfety said. "Justin's a very strong leader in our program and has a great deal of charisma."

Justin and Jerry talk daily by phone, often about Justin's recruiting. The elder has been a confident at every turn. Justin said Jerry's loving guidance helped convince him Tennessee was the right choice after visiting there on July 16.

"He said pick somewhere you could see yourself going, even if you weren't playing football," Justin said. "He told me I'd fall in love with Tennessee.

"(Jerry) thought with my talent I could do bigger things than he did," Justin said. "He always tells me I'll go beyond what he has."

Former Dunwoody coach Jim Teter, who's now at Sequoyah, said Jerry was one of a kind, and so was Justin the year Jerry was a senior starter at Dunwoody and Justin was a freshman on the kickoff team.

"Justin really counted on Jerry when he got (to Dunwoody)," Teter recalled. "Justin has done a good job being the same type leader Jerry was. He's the same student of the game, too."

Jerry had 11 scholarship offers, Justin 12. But Jerry one-upped his brother in the number of sports he played at Dunwoody. In addition to football, the elder was a region champion shot putter as a junior and senior and finished third and second at state those years, the latter with a still-school-record throw of 54 feet.

And another foot race?

"I'd definitely still make it close," Jerry said. "But he's probably got me now."