Kerry Bascom

Kerry Bascom
College University of Connecticut
Conference Big East Conference
Sport Basketball
Position Forward
Jersey # 24
Career 1987–1991
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Born unknown
High school Epping NH
Honors
Kodak All American
Big East Player of the year (1989,1990,1991)
Medal record
Women’s Basketball
World University Games
1991 Sheffield Team Competition

Kerry Bascom is a retired American women's basketball player. She played forward and center for the Connecticut Huskies (UConn) from 1987–1991, scoring 2,177 points, a school record until broken in 1998 by Nykesha Sales. She helped lead the Connecticut team to its first ever Big East regular season championship (1989), first Big East Tournament championship (1989), first NCAA tournament appearance (1989), first NCAA Tournament win (1990), and the first ever NCAA Final Four appearance (1991). Bascom is the first UConn player to be named to a national All America team. She would go on to play for the gold medal winning World University Game Team in 1991.[1]

High school

Kerry Bascom attended Epping High School in Epping, New Hampshire, where her graduating class included only 44 students. Schools in New Hampshire in the small school division are allowed to add middle school students to their rosters. Because of that rule, Kerry was able to join the junior varsity team as an eighth grader. She scored 25 points in her first game and averaged 30 points a game on the junior varsity team, so she was added to the varsity team (after an exemption was granted). She scored 12 points in four minutes in her first game.[2] During her sophomore year her team won the Class S (small) basketball championship, and during her junior and senior year her team was runner up in the Class M (medium) championship. Kerry finished High School as Epping’s all-time leading scorer.

AAU

Kerry had a friend from a rival school call her and invite her to try out for an AAU team in Massachusetts since they didn’t have any around the New Hampshire area. Kerry and her friend were 2 of the 12-member team who all hailed from New Hampshire. They traveled to Massachusetts every weekend that year, and the following year they started an AAU team in New Hampshire. This team ended up playing together for about five years. Of the 12 players, 11 of them went on to play for Division I colleges. She worked at McDonalds from the age of 16 until 18.

College

Kerry’s mom had been very sick with multiple sclerosis so Kerry wanted to stay close to home. She narrowed it down to UConn, Boston College, Syracuse University, Rutgers University and Boston University. She chose UConn, which was 2½ hours away. Bascom was Auriemma's first blue-chip recruit. Her freshman year was challenging as many of the upperclassmen had been recruited by the prior coach. Her freshman roommate was a senior, who would occasionally lock her out of her room.[3]

When Kerry used to tell people she was going to UConn, some thought she meant Yukon—as in the frigid Canadian territory—instead of the University of Connecticut, because at that time the school was not well known. That would all change. In her time at UConn the team had a lot of firsts for the university. The Huskies won the first regular-season Big East title (sophomore year). They also won their first Big East Tournament championship. In her senior year the team went to their first NCAA Final Four trip. As at Epping, Kerry finished her career as the leading scorer in points with 2,177. In 1998 Nykesha Sales broke the record on a controversial play after she was injured. Kerry graduating with a bachelor's degree in sociology from UConn.

The 6' 1" Bascom wore #24 as a uniform number.[1][4] When Nykesha Sales, who would go on to break Bascom's career scoring record, was considering attending UConn, she asked for number 42. Sales had worn number 24 in high school, but out of respect for Bascom, asked to have the digits reversed.[5] Charde Houston later went on to wear number 24.[4]

As of 2009, Kerry Bascom's career scoring average of 18.1 per game is the highest among all UConn players. Her scoring average of 22.6 in 1988-89 is the highest single-season scoring average among all Uconn players. In addition, she ranks among the top ten in UConn history.[6] for:

Bascom occupies five of the top ten positions in the most points in a single game list, as well as top ten positions in numerous other single-game categories. Bascom was a member of the inaugural class (2006) of inductees to the University of Connecticut women's basketball "Huskies of Honor" recognition program.[7]

Bascom received a special award on February 5, 2011, as part of the National Girls and Women In Sport Day. Bascom was the recipient of the award recognizing "an individual who has made significant contributions to the advancement of women's sports on the UConn campus".[8]

University of Connecticut statistics

Kerry Bascom Statistics[9] at University of Connecticut
Year G FG FGA PCT 3FG 3FGA PCT FT FTA PCT REB AVG A TO B S MIN PTS AVG
1987-88 27 94 202 0.465 0 3 0.000 38 56 0.679 147 5.4 23 51 4 7 542 226 8.4
1988-89 29 244 440 0.555 60 126 0.476 108 139 0.777 237 8.2 46 79 11 36 874 656 22.6
1989-90 30 219 452 0.485 52 137 0.380 125 154 0.812 271 9.0 65 93 7 45 992 615 20.5
1990-91 34 246 470 0.523 49 142 0.345 139 166 0.837 260 7.6 87 74 5 39 1048 680 20.0
Totals 120 803 1564 0.513 161 408 0.395 410 515 0.796 915 7.6 221 297 27 127 3456 2177 18.1

World University Games (1991)

Bascom played for the USA team, one of sixteen teams at the fifteenth World University Games (1991) held in Sheffield, England. The team was coached by Tara VanDerveer, and teammates included Lisa Leslie and Dawn Staley. The USA team won all eight games it played, earning the gold medal. Kerry scored 40 points, played in six of the eight games, and hit ten of seventeen three-point attempts, for a team-best 58.8% three-point shooting percentage.[10]

After college

Kerry was Coach Auriemma’s first player to go overseas to play basketball (there was no WNBA at that time).[11] She played in Spain for one season.[12] She came home after the season, and married a man she had known since she was about 10 years old. They were together all through high school and college. Kerry missed basketball so she went to France to play. After being married a year and realizing that she and her husband had actually only been together for about four weeks that year between her basketball schedule in Europe, and his endless hours as a rookie attorney, Kerry decided it was time to come home to be with her husband. Kerry was hired as a women’s assistant basketball coach at the University of New Hampshire which she held for five years starting in 1996. Kerry also is a full-time case manager for Community Partners, overseeing services for individuals 21 and over with developmental disabilities in Strafford County, New Hampshire. In addition she helps with the Special Olympics.[13] Kerry and her husband were married for about 15 years but are presently divorced, although they still remain friends.[14]

Awards

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 "Women's World University Games Team History (1973-2007)" (PDF). p. 14. Retrieved 2009-06-28.
  2. ↑ Karmel p 57
  3. ↑ Walters p 36
  4. 1 2 "Connecticut Women's Basketball" (PDF). p. 71. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  5. ↑ Auriemma, G.; MacMullan, J. (2006). Geno: In pursuit of Perfection. Warner Books. p. 109. ISBN 0-446-57764-2.
  6. ↑ "Connecticut Women's Basketball" (PDF). Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  7. ↑ "Kerry Bascom-Poliquin Honored". p. 30. Retrieved 2011-12-14.
  8. ↑ "Kerry Bascom-Poliquin Honored". UConnHuskies.com. Feb 5, 2011. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  9. ↑ "Media Guide" (PDF). Retrieved 2009-07-05.
  10. ↑ "FIFTEENTH WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES -- 1991". Retrieved 2009-07-02.
  11. ↑ Karmel p 55
  12. ↑ "BASCOM LOSES PLACE, NOT HUMOR". Daily News. New York. 1998-02-25. Retrieved 2009-06-28.
  13. ↑ Altavilla, John (December 24, 2015). "UConn Women's Insider: Kerry Bascom Was The First 'Great One' Geno Had". Hartford Courant. Tribune Company. Retrieved 24 Dec 2015.
  14. ↑ http://uconnhooplegends.com/womensledgends/BascomKerry.html
  15. 1 2 3 "1997 Inductee Biographies". Retrieved 2009-06-21.
  16. 1 2 3 "Big East Record Book 2008-2009" (PDF). p. 211. Retrieved 2009-06-20.
  17. ↑ "New England Basketball Hall of Fame Inductees - 2002". Retrieved 2011-12-14.

References

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