Justice Hill Talks Combine, Bedlam and Gundy’s Reaction to His Leaving Early

Justice Hill weighed in at the NFL Draft Combine on Wednesday — right after he weighed on a Mike Gundy and his reaction to the news that his all-conference running back was headed to the NFL.

Hill arrived in Indianapolis on Tuesday for a whirlwind week that involves measurements, interviews, tests and more interviews, all before he actually talks the field on Friday.

Before reporting for Wednesday morning’s measurements, Justice did one of many interviews with the Bleacher Report’s Stick To Football podcast, where he dished on the Big 12’s defensive image, the combine and Bedlam. He was even asked about a) the mullet and b) Dax’s recruitment each for probably the thousandth time.

But Justice was also asked about the exchange he had with Mike Gundy when he broke the news that he would not be returning for his senior season.

“I’m [going to] keep that to myself,” Hill said laughing. “It wasn’t the best reaction.”

Justice’s decision to forego his final year wasn’t a shock to many, and shouldn’t have been to Gundy. What was more of a sore subject was his decision to sit out of OSU’s Liberty Bowl after missing the final two games of the regular season with a rib injury.

Gundy gave his side of things back in December after Hill and Larry Williams informed him they would be sitting out of the bowl game.

“Well they just come tell you that they’re gonna go prepare for the NFL,” Gundy said. “I don’t ask them why, and I don’t have discussions with them, and I don’t try to talk them into coming back. I feel like if a young man is going to move on with his career, if I have to try to convince him to be here then in most cases, it’s not gonna be good for either side.

“Any time we’ve had a player that has done that, I just said, ‘Hey, I’m disappointed and hate to see that happen,’ because I don’t believe in that, but I respect their opinion. It’s their career and their future. It’s a very short conversation from a standpoint of what’s gonna happen from that point moving forward.”

But the lead-in question, Justice praised his former coach and the program he grew up following.

“He’s a cool coach. He’s straight,” said Hill. “It doesn’t matter to me who the coaches are. I’m always going to play my game. I love the game. But it was a cool experience playing for Coach Gundy.”

Hill was asked about rival school Oklahoma (which did not offer him, by the way): “I could have had every offer in the country and I was probably going to go to Oklahoma State no matter what.”

To double down on the Bedlam hate, when asked which Big 12 defender talked the most noise, he responded in a very Gundy way with “what’s his name? No. 9 from OU” (linebacker Kenneth Murray) in reference to his career game in Bedlam 2017.

“He was talking the whole game,” said Hill. “I was like ‘I got 230 on you all. You gotta chill out’.”

As far as this week’s activities go, Justice wasn’t divulging his numbers but said he is looking forward to the 40-yard dash, the vertical jump and the bench press the most, and indicated that he would surprise people. Mum was even the word on his weight, which he stated was always undersold in college.

Since that interview, Justice has weighed in, and he appears to have bulked up. Whether or not it can be trusted, as he mentioned above, his junior season Justice was listed at 190 pounds on OSU’s roster. On Wednesday, Justice weighed in just a hair under 200 pounds, which is good news for a back whose durability has been questioned. The bigger the better for Hill who came in at 5 foot 9 5/8 inches.

Here are his measurements.

#NFLCombine key measurements thread…

80. #OklahomaState RB Justice Hill
Height: 5-9 5/8
Weight: 198
Hand: 9 4/8
Arm: 31 5/8
Wingspan: 74 7/8

— Charles Robinson (@CharlesRobinson) February 27, 2019

Stay with PFB for more on the combine. Hill will take part in the bench press and other workouts on Thursday before hitting the field for drills on Friday.

You can check out the complete interview here. Justice starts at the 32:50 mark.