Justin James is a special basketball player.

His career at Wyoming has placed him among the elite Cowboys in the history of the sport. There have been just three others his equal.

His accomplishments are well-documented. He is one of four Cowboys to score at least 2,000 points in his career. Only six players in the history of the Mountain West have done it.

He has produced a marvelous senior season. He leads the Mountain West in scoring (21.6 points per game). He is the league's sixth-best rebounder (8.5 rebounds per game).  He is fourth in the league in assists (4.5 assists per game) and he leads the league in steals (1.5 steals per game) and minutes played (1,143).

He has put up some amazing numbers, especially on a team that has struggled to find victories.

But Justin James is so much more than those numbers.

He is a special person. 

He has become someone I didn't see coming when he came to Laramie as a freshman out of Florida.

He became a leader, and the consummate teammate.

Players like James do not come down the road very often. People like him come along even less.

There are a variety of routes an athlete can take when a season goes south. Most of them are not good. They basically aren't willing to play, and especially play hard.

Justin James chose the correct way to do it. Believe me, with the injuries he's suffered, it would have been easy for him to watch from the sideline. There's no way he would do that.

As the Cowboy season got steadily longer, he became stronger, he became an even better leader, an even better teammate.

Not only has he carried the Cowboys on his back the best he could, he also he has been there for a group of young Cowboys. He has talked to them, encouraged them and helped them. I have never seen any Cowboy in all my years here rise above a tough situation like he has.

The ultimate competitor, I cannot imagine how difficult this season has been on him, his last as a Cowboy.

"It's been tough," he says. "But what are you going to do? I love the game, I love the competition, and I love the challenge. If you are a competitor you embrace every game as an opportunity. You give it everything you have."

That's Justin James.

As a freshman, and even as a sophomore there was little indication that he would become such a leader. 

"Shooting the ball was on my mind more than anything else," Justin says with a grin. "I thought that's what it was all about. I always had a lot of confidence that I could do that."

When did the light come on, then?

"It was the middle of my junior year when it began to dawn on me that this year would be my year, and that it was my turn to lead the team. I started thinking more about the program, than just shooting the ball all the time," he smiles. "Coach Edwards also really helped me. We talked a lot about it. He helped me prepare mentally for this season, and how I could impact the team as a leader. We knew there would be a lot of new players, some of them very young. Leadership would be extremely important.

"I really believe I was built to be a leader. So I really worked on making sure that part of me came out."

It certainly has.  I have watched many practices, and have been around the team while on the road all season long. His upbeat nature, his willingness to help his young teammates, and his ability to make people feel good despite what was happening around him have been extremely impressive.

He treats everyone on the team—even the radio broadcasters—like family.

"I'm a family guy," he says. "What I love about Wyoming is that feeling of family. Everyone around here respects everyone. They care about you. I will never forget that."

I got a dose of his engaging personality early on. At the end of one of our first road trips of his freshman season, we got off the plane to one of those Laramie blizzards...snowing like crazy, wind blowing it sideways across our path. We were giving our players rides back to the Arena-Auditorium, and Justin and a couple other freshmen were in my car.

As we were driving back to town (and barely able to see the road), he asked me how long I had lived in Wyoming? I told him all of my life. He was quiet for a moment, then he said, "wow, have you ever heard of Florida?" and then he just cracked up.

There's no question Justin James has a glittering future in the game of basketball. But what will he do when the ball stops bouncing?

"I'll probably end up in South Florida. That's where all of my family is, and I want to be around them." He hesitates, and then says that his girlfriend—Cowgirl track star Jerayah Davis—"may have something to say about it. Let me change that, Jerayah WILL have something to say about it," he laughs.

"I know this, I will come back to Wyoming to visit. This school has given me so much. It'll always be in my heart."

And tomorrow will be the last time he plays in the Arena-Auditorium. That will be a sad day for me. I have so enjoyed watching him play for the Cowboys. But I've enjoyed being around him even more.

All of Wyoming should be there to thank him. It won't be, but it should. So I'll say it for everyone, 'Thank you Justin, you have been one, great Wyoming Cowboy!'