When Manassas basketball standout Joslynn Basemore decided she would like to give a competitive hoops a try nearly a decade ago, her mother wasted little time conducting a one-on-one meeting with her.

As Michelle Basemore explains, it was imperative that she and daughter got a thorough understanding.

“See…when she started playing ball, we had this understanding that in order to play, she had to bring me home all A’s regardless of what the school says…that you must have a C average,” Michelle Basemore told Sports Journalist Andre Johnson. “That just didn’t do it for me. And since day one, she has been bringing all A’s home and staying focus on training on and off the court.”

For Joslynn Basemore, it is because of her mother’s stern but strict approach, coupled with her fiancée’s — Daren Peterson — influential guidance and impact that has greatly enabled Joslynn Basemore to excel in the classroom and on the hardwood, thus make a solid case to solidify an athletic scholarship.

A 5-foot-4 senior combo guard and the team’s leading scorer, Joslynn Basemore is the featured player for a Manassas squad that will be aiming to surpass last year’s 14-10 finish. Since joining the Lady Tigers’ program three seasons ago, Joslynn Basemore admittedly harbored concerns as to whether for a thriving young basketball player in this hoops-crazed Bluff City, she’d generate the essential attention at a school that is housed in inner city North Memphis.

To her credit, though, not only has she garnered interest from a couple of schools — most notably Georgia State and Austin Peay State — but if she manages to duplicate the success she enjoyed the previous two seasons as the Lady Tiger’s best offensive threat, the possibility exists that Joslynn Basemore will almost certainly find herself decked out in a college basketball uniform around this time next year.

Of course, she’ll have her mother and father to thank.

“In the last three years, my dad, Daren Peterson, has been my biggest support by training me,” Joslynn Basemore said. “He has worked with me on and off the court on enhancing my skills. I also train with my AAU team (in the offseason) as well, and also train with (Manassas teammates). I always push myself by keeping a ball in my hand at all times and doing dribbling drills daily when I’m not studying.”

Michelle Basemore and Daren Peterson are former athletes which, for Joslynn Basemore, have provided her with an added advantage, or sorts, as a young, thriving student athlete.

Even aside from their demanding work schedules, this couple has become devoted to ensuring that Joslynn Basemore is generating the necessary exposure that will prevent her from going unnoticed, especially for an athlete who has proven time and again since entering the high school ranks that she possesses the skills, mindset, and maturity to play at the collegiate level.

A program director at Vatterott College, Daren Peter is native Memphian and former Memphis Tech High and Northwest Mississippi Community College basketball player. In addition, he is a former U.S. soldier, having served in the United States Navy, where he was a member of its Fleet Team.

Michelle Basemore, on the other hand, is a native of Horseshoe Lake, Arkansas, and works as a bill collector/debt counselor in the Memphis-metropolitan area. She is a former basketball standout for Hughes (Ark.) High.

COLLEGE HOOPS MATERIAL — A 5-foot-4 senior combo guard and the team’s leading scorer, Joslynn Basemore is the featured player for a Manassas squad that will be aiming to surpass last year’s 14-10 finish. Since joining the Lady Tigers’ program three seasons ago, Joslynn Basemore admittedly harbored concerns as to whether for a thriving young basketball player in this hoops-crazed Bluff City, she’d generate the essential attention at a school that is housed in inner city North Memphis.
To her credit, though, not only has she garnered interest from a couple of schools — most notably Georgia State and Austin Peay State — but if she manages to duplicate the success she enjoyed the previous two seasons as the Lady Tiger’s best offensive threat, the possibility exists that Joslynn Basemore will almost certainly find herself decked out in a college basketball uniform around this time next year.

In helping her daughter flourish as one of Shelby-Metro’s top players for the Class of 2016, Michelle Basemore acknowledges among the notable lessons she’s learned through sports that she’s instilled in Joslynn Basemore is to take the initiative to raise the bar in excelling on and off the court.

“One of the main lessons that I have learned and have tried to carry over to her is that you never give up on the things that you want regardless of what it looks like and what others may say,” Michelle Basemore explains. “Joslynn has had to make the same move I did when I was in school, moving from one city to another. But I didn’t have anyone to push me to keep going and to pursue what I loved at the time which was basketball. So I push her to continue to strive to be her best even the more because she is the new kid on the block. She must understand that doesn’t mean that she has to take the backseat she can set the bar and be the standard.”

Said Peterson: “I always tell her that by working hard, everything else will take care of itself, and that if she is going to be a leader, she needs to be a leader on and off the court.”

In addition, Peterson and his fiancée have become fixtures during the summer months when their daughter is putting her skills on display on the AAU circuit. Both, in fact, agree that never do they grow weary of supporting a well-disciplined, teachable child who routinely goes above and beyond to ensure the Manassas girls basketball program remains relevant in this hoops-crazed city.

To her credit, she’s done just that, something about which her parents say college scouts and recruiters shouldn’t overlook or take for granted.

“The sky is the limit for her because not only does she excels in basketball with a 22.5 (points per game scoring) average but she has a 4.3 GPA, which puts her in the top of her class as well as she is part of The National Honor Society,” Peterson said. “Even with all the gifts and talents that she possesses, the sky is the limit because she believes in putting God first in everything that she does and she thanks Him first and foremost, knowing that if she continues to bless Him, He will continue to bless her. She should hold on to the fact the greater is coming so the sky is the limit.”

Spoken like true, loving, supportive parents.

EDITOR’S NOTE: If you have a child or team that is seeking exposure and would like an in-depth sports news story, call Reporter Andre Johnson at 901-690-6587 or Facebook message him for details under “Andre T. Johnson.”

Andre Johnson is a senior writer for MemphiSport. A 2000 graduate of the University of Memphis School of Journalism, Johnson covers the NBA Southwest Division from Dallas, Texas. To reach Johnson, send an email to memphi[email protected]. Also, follow him on Twitter @AJ_Journalist.