Benjamin St-Juste

Class:
Freshman
Position:
DB
Height:
6-3
Weight:
193
Hometown:
Rosemere, Quebec
High School:
Cegep du Vieux Montreal

CAREER BESTS

Defense
• Tackles: 1 - (2X) last vs. Rutgers, 2017
• Solos: 1 - (2X) last vs. Rutgers, 2017

At Michigan
• 2017 letterwinner

Sophomore (2018)
• Did not see game action

Freshman (2017)
• Made his collegiate debut on special teams against Florida at the Advocare Classic (Sept. 2)
• Played in 12 games contributing on special teams and played cornerback in one game, making three tackles and earned his first varsity letter
• Contributed on special teams against Cincinnati (Sept. 9), Air Force (Sept. 16), Purdue (Sept. 23), Michigan State (Oct. 7), Indiana (Oct. 14), Penn State (Oct. 21), Rutgers (Oct. 28), Minnesota (Nov. 4), Wisconsin (Nov. 18) and Ohio State (Nov. 25)
• Made one solo tackle playing special teams and cornerback at Maryland (Nov. 11)

Prep
• Attended Cegep du Vieux Montréal (2017) coached by Cherif Nicolas

Key Statistics
• Made 30 tackles and recorded two interceptions as a senior, with 18 pass breakups and a forced fumble in nine games
• Made six tackles with two pass breakups in three games as a junior
• Played in 22 games during his prep career
• Helped lead Cegep du Vieux Montreal to back-to-back 5-4 records and fourth-place finishes in Montreal's Division I Provincial League in 2015 and 2016

Honors and Rankings
• ESPN three-star prospect, rated the No. 2 player in Canada and the No. 84 cornerback in the country
• 247.com four-star prospect, ranked the No. 38 cornerback and No. 1 player in Quebec
• Scout three-star prospect and rated as the No. 39 cornerback nationally
• PrepStar four-star recruit and ranked No. 338 overall prospect nationally
• PrepStar Top 350 All-American selection
• Quebec Student Sports Federation Division I All-Star as a cornerback
• Ranked the No. 7 player in Canada by CanadaFootballChat.com
• Attended the 2016 The Opening in Beaverton, Oregon
• Recognized as a Division I (highest division) All-Star at cornerback by CanadaFootballChat.com

Personal
• Benjamin St. Juste was born Sept. 8, 1997
• Enrolled in the College of Literature, Science and the Arts

Coach Michael Zordich on Ben St-Juste
"Ben is a kid we are excited to have. He's a big kid who can go up there and get the ball, and he can be aggressive playing press-man coverage. He has good feet for a guy his size, and he can turn and run with receivers.

"Ben is a great kid from a good family, and I am looking forward to working with him, as is the rest of our staff. He is extremely long, very talented, has great hips, great movement, and we are excited to have him at Michigan."

In the Words of the St-Juste Family
"If we had to choose one word to describe Benjamin St-Juste, it would be determination. When we summarize what he did for the past two years, only this word comes to our mind.

"Benjamin started playing football at the age of nine years old. He played for the elite teams in Québec, and he was talented and passionate about football. All those years his father kept telling him 'Even if you are talented, you have to train and work harder if you want to go further in football.' One day he realized what his father kept telling him was true.

"In the summer of 2014, Benjamin was selected to do training camp of the National Quebec Team. Unfortunately, he did not make the final cut of the roster. That moment was very heartbreaking for Benjamin because all his friends and teammates did make the cut. After that happened, Benjamin changed his approach to obtain his goal, and he didn't let that obstacle get in the way of his dream of playing in the National Football League.

"I used to tell him to do football camp in the USA, so that he could get a chance to evaluate himself against better competition and maybe earn a full scholarship. He won the MVP of his first camp in New York, Albany, and he also met an excellent coach who told him to keep attending football camps because he had something special that nobody could teach him. That motivated Benjamin to attend the Michigan Wolverines summer football camp in June 2015 where he received his first full scholarship from Jim Harbaugh. The unknown, French-Canadian kid was rewarded for all his hard work.

"But this was not the end of his achievement; he felt that people still doubted him because he was from Montreal, Canada.

"Two years earlier, he was at home watching videos of Nike's The Opening camp and told himself 'I want to do this camp.' Well, he eventually received the invitation for Nike's The Opening and Rivals' camp in New Jersey. He performed very well at these camps. He then received an invitation to the prestigious Nike Opening finals in Oregon. He gave his best performance anywhere against the top players in the United States. The unknown Canadian went from being a one star to four stars in less than a year.

"As he, himself, said in an article 'I will always be the French Canadian in the USA, and I still have so much to show, so let the journey continue at Michigan!' GO BLUE!"