Justine Pissott sat in Toms River, New Jersey, and watched.

The current Vanderbilt forward’s family TV was consistent.

"We always watched sports, my dad always had basketball on. I loved watching the WNBA, I watched Breanna Stewart my entire life."

Because of this, Pissott started playing basketball when she was in first grade, but she wasn't the only one in her family to hit the hardwood.

Justine's twin sister, Gia, was an athlete was well.

Although they were twins, the sisters had very different athletic journeys, but ultimately the same ending, playing college basketball.

"We played with each other up until eighth grade," Pissott said. "She had gotten a very bad concussion, so she was out of basketball for almost a year."

Due to her sister dealing with injuries, Justine had to go her own way.

"When she stopped playing basketball, she went to golf, so I was just by myself playing basketball."

This was until Covid-19 hit. The golf courses shut down and Gia picked up basketball again.

Despite the twins being back in the same sport, they never wore the same jersey.

"We went to two different high schools, we played on two different teams, but we never got to play each other."

Pissott explained going to each other's games was no easy task.

"In high school, it was pretty hard; I was 40 minutes north and she was 40 minutes south, so we never really had the time to see each other play."

Although they never got to see each other play much, both sisters were having success that led to Division 1 basketball.

The Toms River, New Jersey, native had her recruitment pick up heavily.

Coming out of high school, Pissott was ranked the No. 11 player in the Class of 2022 according to ESPN. The five-star had many offers, but chose to play for Tennessee halfway through her high school career.

"Tennessee was one of my dream schools," Pissott commented. "The beginning of my junior year, I committed to Tennessee."

Justine's twin, Gia, ended up committing to play at Navy.

In the fall of 2022, Pissott arrived in Knoxville as a freshman. If making the transition to college wasn't hard enough, the former Lady Vol was dealing with personal matters while being far away from home.

"I had a lot going on. I had a few deaths [around me] that happened back-to-back. I hated being far and thinking I couldn't do anything to help."

Through the struggles, Pissott made her family a priority.

"When my grandfather had passed away last year, I was helpless. Immediately [after entering the transfer portal], I thought 'I'm going close to home, I am going to Villanova.'"

With Villanova being just an hour and a half from Pissott's hometown, that option made the most sense, but her dad had told her to at least be open to other opportunities.

"[Assistant coach] Kevin [DeMille] called me and my dad told me to just listen to Kevin."

DeMille, who was previously an assistant at George Washington, had recruited Pissott when she was headed into high school.

Because of this, Pissott listened to her father and decided to take a call from Vanderbilt, which worked out in her favor.

"As soon as I did a zoom call, I texted my group chat that I was going here."

With all of the bumps in the road, Pissott wanted a place that could help her fall back in love with basketball.

"I had told [the coaches] everything I had gone through. I wanted to start falling back in love with basketball again, I was on the verge of not playing basketball anymore."

Through her openness, the rising junior saw how much head coach Shea Ralph was willing to help her through the hardships.

"A person like Coach Ralph who is very genuine, caring and motivated about her people, she took me under her wing when I told her that this is where I want to go and I was very thankful for that."

Although this is not that path Pissott ever thought she'd go down, she has found her new home in Nashville.

"I think this is exactly where I am supposed to be."