BYU football: Justice Brathwaite hopes to pick up where father, former Cougar great left off

PROVO — BYU cornerback commit Justice Brathwaite is locked and ready to pick up right where his father left off, and then some.

Brathwaite is a 6-foot, 170-pound prospect from Gilbert, Arizona, who selected the Cougars over a litany of impressive offers, which included Arizona State, Iowa State and Kansas, among several others. He made his commitment public last month and will be a big part of the 2026 recruiting class.

Many Cougars fans will remember Justice Brathwaite's father, Reynaldo Brathwaite, well after a standout 2003 season, where he rushed for 812 yards that included a record 95-yard touchdown run. They were impressive marks to be certain, with father always ready to educate his son on how good he was back in the day.

"Oh, all the time," Justice said with a laugh when asked how often his father talks about his play at BYU during an interview conducted on ESPNtheFan.

It's the type of interaction reflective of a sort of fun competitive relationship Reynaldo has formed with his son since his early days of flag football. Somewhat naturally, Justice aimed at replicating his father's play at the running back position before an advance to full contact football changed that goal.

"When I made the transition to tackle football I was still good at running back, just like my dad, but it just wasn't as fun to me," Justice said. "But when I played defense, the love for the game was so much more on the defensive side of the ball."

Justice went on to play for Higby High, where his standout play helped secure a state championship for his team. He did as much by displaying similar athleticism as his father, albeit on a different side of the ball with a similar confident mindset.

"I'm a strong tackler in the run game and I'm one of those corners who really know how to set an edge," Justice said. "My strongest ability is my ability to cover a receiver one-on-one. I can play man coverage on one receiver the whole game and the receiver isn't going to have more than one catch. I can take someone out of the game."

Several collegiate programs soon noticed his play and met him with scholarship offers, with BYU soon following suit.

"It's always the plan … but when it actually happens — when you see all the work you've put in and the outcome of it — it's just crazy," he said. "It doesn't even feel real."

Familiar grounds

Heading Brathwaite's recruitment was BYU cornerbacks coach Jenaro Gilford, who helped garner an immediate level of trust due to Gilford's continued friendship with Reynaldo. Gilford and Reynaldo were not only teammates but roommates during the 2003 season and have maintained a friendship with one another to this day.

"It's someone my dad trusts and someone I trust even more," Justice said. "So he's definitely built a bond there. I just know that he wants the best for me and that he's going to push me to that next level every day."

The clincher for Justice's commitment, however, was an official visit to the program that he made with his mother, who is also a graduate of BYU, during the weekend of the program's 41-19 win over Arizona.

"I think I showed up two hours before the game and the student section was already full," Justice said. "The fans and the atmosphere through all four quarters — that's the kind of environment you just can't compete with. So that was another huge deciding factor."

Justice was shown around BYU by not only program coaches and officials, but also his mother, who holds fond memories of her time in Provo. Through it all, Justice became enamored with the football facilities and the overall feel of the Provo campus.

"At one point, I felt that Kansas was my home," Justice said. "But when I took my visit down to BYU ... it was life-changing."

Emulating Jakob Robinson

Justice has become an ardent viewer of BYU football in recent years, and particularly of the Cougars' defensive backfield — a unit that proved prolific in causing turnovers.

As with most, Justice noticed the play of Jakob Robinson and encouraged his teammates to watch him play to emulate the techniques he employed for the Cougars.

But BYU's defensive playmaking ability didn't begin and end with Robinson, with several others standing out game-to-game throughout the season — a positive prospect in Justice's mind.

"When you watch BYU games, there's always a different defensive back making a play," Justice said. "I've patterned my game after those players."

He'll now embark on a ground floor opportunity to continue his pattern while attending a program still thought of fondly by both his father and mother. Due to his mother being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Justice is very familiar with BYU's unique standards and is ready to embrace all of it.

He plans on majoring in business while at BYU and sees the program's honor code and other standards as a net positive for his development.

"None of that stuff is an issue for me. I'm just there to play football. ... As far as the church goes, it's something I definitely want to get into," Justice said.

Justice's goal is to graduate early and enter the BYU program in time for the 2026 spring ball session. Regardless of when he does arrive, Cougars fans can anticipate an enthusiastic character with a lot of upside that could very well provide the type of impact his father did a little over 20 years ago.

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