Villanova’s Jasmine Bascoe is having an impressive freshman season. She draws inspiration from a Wildcats legend.
She watched Jalen Brunson from home in Canada and hopes to shape her game around his. So far, it's paying off for her and the Wildcats.
Jasmine Bascoe wanted to play point guard at Villanova years before she earned a spot on the roster.
Watching the Wildcats from her hometown of Milton, Ontario, Bascoe developed an interest in the school because of her favorite NBA player, Jalen Brunson, the New York Knicks guard who helped lead the Wildcats to national championships in 2016 and 2018.
“I just loved watching [Brunson] growing up. If I can shape my game around how he plays, that’s what I’m trying to do,” Bascoe said. “I think Villanova is the perfect spot for how I play.”
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Bascoe committed to Villanova as a high school junior and remembers it as an “easy” decision. She followed in the footsteps of a basketball family: her parents, Shane and Mary Beth, played at Canadian colleges, and her older brother, Josh, is a senior guard at Bucknell.
“When I was going to other schools on visits and comparing everything, I was like, ‘This place feels real. It doesn’t feel like they’re just putting on a facade to make me want to come here,’” Bascoe said. “The coaches [at Villanova] were really transparent and open with me.”
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Now, aspirations have turned into reality for the rookie, who has been Villanova’s leading scorer since her arrival on the Main Line.
Coach Denise Dillon made the team’s expectations clear: Bascoe would need to contribute from the moment she stepped on campus. She proceeded to drop 18 points in her debut against Wake Forest. In a 68-67 win over Columbia on Nov. 16, Bascoe led again with 15 points, six rebounds, and five assists. She scored a career-high 26 points in a Dec. 1 win over St. Joseph’s.
“In the recruiting process, [Bascoe] wanted to come here and make an impact,” Dillon said after the Columbia game. “We talked to her and told her, ‘You’re going to be thrown in the fire right away,’ and she’s responded.”
Getting “thrown in the fire” turned out to be just how Bascoe thrives. Thirteen games into the season, she’s averaging 15.5 points and 4.4 rebounds and has a team-high 26 steals. The 5-foot-7 Bascoe also brings speedy footwork in the paint and versatility on defense.
She’s is one of three international players to join the roster in 2024. Graduate forward Lara Edmanson grew up in Australia, and graduate guard Bronagh Power-Cassidy is from Ireland.
An international setting is not new to Bascoe, who has played for the Canadian national team since 2022. This summer, she helped lead Canada to the FIBA U18 Women’s AmeriCup silver medal, after an 80-69 loss to the United States in the final. She averaged 14.8 points and 4.7 assists and was named to the tournament’s all-star five.
“[The national team] was some high-level basketball that I wasn’t getting in high school, so I think that really prepared me for playing against older, tougher girls,” Bascoe said. “Having to adjust to new faces and figure out how to play with new people is definitely a skill I got to learn a little early because of that.”
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Bascoe, Edmanson, and Power-Cassidy — who has experience on Ireland’s youth national teams — bonded over the experience of playing internationally.
“It’s a different type of basketball, so it’s kind of cool that us three can bring that into the American style of basketball,” Bascoe said. “FIBA is less skill-based and more team-based. So having a taste of all the different types of basketball really helps this team flourish.”
With eight new players in 2024, Villanova looks a lot different than it did when Bascoe first committed. The Wildcats are 7-6 following a 71-57 win over St. John’s in their Big East opener, and their toughest tests lie ahead.
Bascoe may have found an interest in Villanova before the program found out about her. But now, she’s proved herself up to the task of establishing the next generation of Villanova basketball.