Fargas Wants the Season to Be a Ringing Success

Justin Fargas can’t help but laugh when reminiscing about his early days at Notre Dame High.

He remembers looking on with a small amount of envy as older teammates collected recruiting letters from college football coaches.

He would jab an elbow into the side of a teammate who was being recruited and ask in jest, “Hey, where’s mine?” fully aware that none of the letters were addressed to him.

Funny how much things can change in a year.

Fargas no longer asks about letters because he’s been inundated with them since December when Coach Kevin Rooney began handing them over.

The secret to being on every college coach’s mailing list? Rush for 2,945 yards and 34 touchdowns and lead your team to a section championship game . . . as a junior. Only two others in state history have rushed for more yards in a season.

Six months ago, Fargas kept his letters in a neat, organized file. Now, he rarely finds time to open his mail. That’s what happens when dozens of letters become hundreds.

When you’re as busy as Fargas is these days--lifting weights and running twice a day, working with kids at a Notre Dame summer camp from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and playing in the occasional seven-on-seven passing game or tournament--it pays to know important mail from junk mail.

Fortunately, Fargas is way ahead of the game. Seven weeks from opening kickoff of his senior year, the 6-foot-1, 185-pound tailback already has his choices narrowed to six schools. And he’s already visited three of them, unofficially.

On the advice of friend Bobby Boyd, Fargas, his father Antonio, and former teammate Troy Garner flew east late in June to check out some football powerhouses.

They toured the campuses and facilities of Notre Dame, Michigan, Northwestern and Ohio State, talked with coaches and met with academic counselors. Ohio State is not one of his six contenders.

Fargas’ impression?

“There was something about every school that I like,” said Fargas, who is also considering UCLA, USC and Stanford.

Fargas’ mother, divorced from Antonio seven years ago, lives in the Bay Area and is “pushing for Stanford or Cal,” he said.

With so much going on in his life, and high expectations for his senior year, Fargas said he isn’t worried about suffering a letdown.

“I’m confident that I’ll have a better season this year than I had last year,” he said. “I know I’m stronger and I’m faster than I was.”

Considering he is the state high school 100-meter champion, no one would dispute Fargas’ claim.

“The only pressure I feel, maybe, is to get the [Southern Section] championship,” he said. “I don’t feel pressure that I have to perform well. I’m confident enough in the team and myself that when we put it all together, it will be fine.”

Fargas has been enduring 12-hour days preparing for a season he hopes ends with a section championship.

By 6:30 a.m., Fargas is at Notre Dame pumping iron. He can bench press 315 pounds and squat with 465.

After the 90-minute workout and breakfast, Fargas becomes a counselor for kids 6 to 12 on the fundamentals of sports and the importance of sportsmanship.

His community servitude doesn’t end there: He pulls kitchen duty and is responsible for making lunches and punch for about 150 kids at the six-week camp.

After lunch and another session of games with the kids, Fargas puts his strength and athletic ability to good use as a performer.

“I do flips [in the pool] for them,” he said. “They like that.”

Fargas is clearly enjoying the summer. But he is “anxious to put the pads on and see how the season is going to go.”

No matter how many times you ask him about his personal goals, Fargas’ answers always revolve around the team. Whether or not he gains 3,000 yards rushing is not important, he said.

“If we win the [Southern Section] championship, I’ve had a better season,” Fargas said. “The year doesn’t mean a thing without a ring.”