Big Brothers Watching Pitts Excel

Julia Pitts faced a daunting task trying to tag along with her three older brothers.

“No, you’re a girl, get away,” they told her while she was growing up.

Whether playing touch football or jumping off a roof, the brothers weren’t convinced of their sister’s toughness.

“I’d follow them and they’d say, ‘Stay back,’” Pitts said. “I was always their little sister, and they didn’t want me to get hurt doing what they were doing.”

But there were games in the neighborhood that Pitts wanted to play.

“They were always throwing the football around,” she said. “I’d wait until the ball rolled into the street, then I’d run and go get it just so I could touch the ball.”

Little did her brothers realize that they had a ringer in their family, and it was Julia. They’ve since become her most loyal fans, watching her blossom into one of the top female athletes in Southern California.

She was the Ocean League player of the year in volleyball at North Torrance High. She’s an All-Southern Section basketball player. She’s one of the top 400-meter runners in the state, finishing sixth last season. This month, without any practice, she cleared a school-record 5 feet 9 in the high jump.

She has signed with UCLA for basketball but also will compete in track, and she might play volleyball after her freshman year.

“I really believe she’s the next Jackie Joyner-Kersee,” North Torrance track Coach Candy Ham said. “She’s that good.”

Pitts stands 6-2, looks like a model and competes as if she’s an indestructible machine.

“She works hard every day, no matter what,” girls’ basketball Coach Krissy Duperron said.

Pitts averaged 21.5 points in basketball and figures to improve greatly in college because she has been playing the game only since her freshman year.

She was a cheerleader with little sports background until she arrived at North Torrance. Pitts remembers coaches, who had spotted her on campus, stopping her.

“You’re coming to play for me,” they told her.

First came volleyball, then basketball and track. With each sport, she’d start from scratch, struggle early, then improve and become a standout.

“She’s naturally talented,” Ham said. “She trains real hard. But more than that, she’s a wonderful person.”

Her brothers showed the way in sports. Chester, 22, is an offensive lineman at San Diego State who figures to be taken in the upcoming NFL draft. Devin, 20, is a receiver at USC. Ryan, 19, runs track at El Camino College.

Julia has no hard feelings about her brothers not letting her join them early on.

“They push me to try harder,” she said.

She’s fast enough to outrun 320-pound Chester, but she knows not to pick a fight with him.

“He pulls me up by one arm and throws me somewhere,” she said.

Coaches were excited to recruit Pitts because she has made such rapid progress without the benefit of a youth sports background and possesses many of the qualities needed to excel at the college level.

“She’s raw,” UCLA basketball Coach Kathy Olivier said. “The girl can get up and down the floor. She runs like a deer. She has long arms. She’s explosive. She’s going to see her game go to another level.”

Twice at track and field invitationals this month, Pitts was selected the female athlete of the meet.

Whether high jumping, running the hurdles or competing in relays, she’ll do whatever is necessary to help her team succeed.

The best moments for Pitts are when she competes and her brothers can be there to cheer.

“I like having my brothers all there,” she said.

And her brothers have learned not to underestimate their little sister. They wouldn’t mind recruiting her for a game of touch football.

“Line her up on the outside and let her run,” Devin said.

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Eric Sondheimer can be reached at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.