When someone asks Winnipeg Wesmen volleyball star Justin Duff to jump, he says "How high."
He means it.
"He possesses an outstanding jump," Wesmen volleyball coach Larry McKay said immediately when asked to describe his 6-foot-7 middle player's best attributes.
"He touches over 12 feet which I think is the highest of anyone in Canada for volleyball. It's really amazing to think anyone can jump that high."
McKay wasn't as impressed the first time he saw Duff, back then a Grade 10 student at Maples Collegiate, who was all arms and legs.
"He walked into the gym and here was this kid who couldn't walk and chew gum at the same time and then he jumps and you realize that this is a special young man."
McKay isn't the only one to have recognized Duff's unique abilities.
Duff tried out for the national team for the first time last spring and was named to the "B" team which competed in the Pan American Cup in Mexico. He was also named to the Canadian team which went to the World University Games in Serbia.
He'll be back in the national team's training camp this coming spring and hopes to make the big leap to the "A" team and compete in the World Championship in Italy.
"That's an ultimate goal for me and it's also the most difficult one that's attainable," said Duff, a fourth-year education student.
"The national team program was an awesome experience. It was such an eye opener to see the demands on a lot of these guys. A lot of these guys are professional athletes and a lot of things I had taken for granted playing in university -- maybe I was a little taller, could jump a little higher -- the skill level closes down so much at that level and you can't really take these things for granted any more."
Duff, whose brother Brayden plays basketball for the Wesmen, isn't playing like a guy who is taking anything for granted so far this season.
Entering play this weekend, he was tops in Canada West in hitting percentage (.539) and service aces (7), fifth in points and 10th in kills.
He attributes much of his success to having been around great players and coaches when he was first starting out in university volleyball. The Wesmen won the national championship when he was a freshman in 2007.
Some would say that has left Duff and his teammates with a lot of pressure to succeed, but he downplays that angle.
"There's always an expectation of having a good team here, but I don't think it makes it harder for me," he said. "I think it makes it easier because I was exposed to guys like Ben Schellenberg, Dustin Addison-Schneider and Richard Wiebe, who taught me what it takes to be a champion and it's nice to try and replicate that."
Duff also played hockey when he was younger, which might explain why he lists former Colorado Avalanche captain Joe Sakic as his sports idol, and played high school basketball at Maples Collegiate.
One of his most memorable moments in sports came when he shattered the backboard glass during a slam dunk competition at the Winnipeg Invitational Tournament a few years back, prompting a crowd eruption he's never experienced before or since.
"I just wasn't happy with my performance so I asked for one more dunk," Duff reflected. "I just kinda went for broke and I didn't expect that to happen at all. It was pretty funny."
So where does Duff see himself in a few years?
"I hope to be playing with the national team "A" squad and travelling to all their competitions and doing the best I can," he said. "And I hope to play professional volleyball somewhere in Europe."
That last goal could be very lucrative if it turns out. Some European and Asian professional volleyball teams pay players upwards of $250,000 a year.
"I don't want to put pressure on anybody but I think it's doable for Justin," McKay said. "He's very well on his way if that's what his goal is. There are real good pro opportunities for volleyball players in Europe."
While McKay obviously thinks highly of his young protege, the respect is mutual.
"Larry's a big believer of the theory 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it,'" Duff said. "He's the only coach I've had with that philosophy. He really likes people to take accountability for themselves and he likes to teach that. He doesn't like to be a micro-manager who's on top of your head all the time."
Of course, when McKay asks Duff to jump, he always says "How high."
And he means it.
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JUSTIN DUFF
- Sport: Volleyball
- Team: Winnipeg Wesmen
- Year: Fourth
- Major: Education
- Position: Middle
- Age: 21
- Height: 6-foot-7
- High School: Maples
- Sports Idol: Joe Sakic
- Fun Fact: Duff once brought the house down at the Winnipeg Invitational Basketball Tournament by breaking the backboard glass during a slam dunk competition
ted.wyman@sunmedia.ca
