UTC forward Jasmine Joyner (3) shoots over Furman's DeAnneisha Jackson during Thursday night's game at McKenzie Arena. Joyner finished the game, a 66-43 victory for the Mocs, with 15 points, 15 rebounds, four blocks, four assists and two steals.Joyner’s accomlishments
1,250 points (17th all-time)927 rebounds (3rd)425 blocks (1st; tied for 11th all-time in NCAA history)Two-time All-SoCon first team2015 SoCon tournament most outstanding player
Jasmine Joyner has made a college basketball career out of blocking shots for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
She will go down as the program's all-time leader in that category and currently ranks 11th all time in NCAA history with 425. In the UTC record books, she ranks in the top five in rebounds and the top 20 in points scored.
But the sport wasn't an instant love for the Mocs senior, one of four UTC women's basketball players whose final home game is today against Wofford in the first half of a doubleheader at McKenzie Arena. The UTC men host Mercer at 5 p.m.
She was born in Heidelberg, Germany, the daughter of military parents, and bounced around Memphis, Fayetteville, N.C., and Southaven, Miss. She was initially a model, then moved on to cheerleading until her father, Ricky Joyner, put a basketball in her hand after he retired from the service.
As a tall, lanky player growing up in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the obvious comparisons to Lisa Leslie started, but Joyner didn't really gain a passion for basketball until her sophomore year of high school.
"I almost quit my freshman year because I was bullied, but my mom wouldn't let me," said Joyner, now listed at 6-foot-2, this week. "It wasn't until my senior year that I really got into it."
She arrived at UTC in fall 2013, having chosen the Mocs over scholarship offers from Murray State, Arkansas State, Alabama at Birmingham, Southern Mississippi, Georgia State and others.
That UTC team, similar to this one, was led by seniors, with five of them on the roster. Joyner was one of six freshmen, and a senior-heavy roster typically leads to few opportunities for the young players. But coach Jim Foster, in his first season with the Mocs, didn't work that way. He would play the best players, and he did just that early in the season.
Frustrated by his team's performances, he benched several of the seniors against Hawaii in the final game of the Marriott Rainbow Wahini Showdown in Honolulu and played multiple freshmen with senior Taylor Hall, who went on to be named the Southern Conference player of the year. Joyner and Moses Johnson were two of those freshmen, and they each scored 10 points in a 59-57 comeback victory.
"That was one of the highlights of the season because Coach Foster had faith in us and we had faith in each other," Joyner said. "We stepped up and won the game.
"On that team, everybody had to compete. No spots were given and you never knew who was going to start, who would get in and who would stay in."
Early on, Joyner was uncertain of what her role was for the Mocs. She learned quickly it was the ability to prevent others from getting shots up.
It should have been no surprise. She had averaged five blocks per game as a senior at Southaven High School, though at the time she attributed that success to playing against smaller competition. Then came a game against Davidson, when she blocked seven shots in a big road victory for the Mocs.
After her sophomore season, she earned a tryout with USA Basketball, which really opened her eyes as to how much improvement her game needed.
"I just thought my game was pick-and-roll and layups, but I saw what all the others post players were doing, and I had to expand my game to be better for my teammates," she said. "I wanted to be more comfortable with my handles, so I worked on that.
"I had to become comfortable in uncomfortable situations."
She has done just that and has improved every facet of her game. She is shooting a career-best 75 percent from the free-throw line this season. She's averaging 10.2 rebounds, also a career high. She can finish with either hand in the lane now with no problems.
Joyner has said she wants to remain in basketball in some capacity after the season ends, either playing or coaching. She will graduate in May with a degree in psychology, but the next step is something she will concern herself with later.
"I just want people to remember that I played hard," she said. "I don't want them to be able to say there was a game I didn't go out and try my hardest.
"And my blocks. I want them to remember my blocks."
Those will be hard to forget.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.