Jasmyne Roberts, Bishop Kenny Basketball Phenom

Jasmyne Roberts has begun her senior basketball season at Bishop Kenny with a bang. The girls team has gone 7-1 in the early games of the season, and Roberts has already scored 203 points, making up for almost half of all points scored.

But this is not some fluke performance. Roberts has been at the top of her game in her last 2.5 years playing for Bishop Kenny, scoring a total of 1,392 points and leading her team to the state championship finals two years in a row. Both times they have come up just short of the championship ring, so this year, Roberts’ senior year, she’s hoping for the title. 

Roberts was raised on basketball. It’s in her genes. It’s a game that she’s watched her cousins succeed in before her, giving her inspiration to be great. She shares a family tree with Courtney Williams, a point guard for the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream, and Shaneese Baily, who played for the University of Miami. It’s safe to say that shooting hoops is in this family’s blood. 

Ever since Roberts was a child, she’s been pushing the limits and challenging herself. Her earliest memory of playing was when she was 7 and went to a youth event at the Yulee Basketball Association. She walked into the gym to find that she was wildly outnumbered by older boy athletes.

“I was playing against like 12-year-old boys,” Roberts said. “I was a little scared, but I kept playing, and it made me tough.”

Fast forward 10 years, and all the hard work has paid off as she committed to continue her basketball career at the University of Miami. On Nov. 11, Roberts made the decision official and signed to be a Hurricane. In an Instagram post, she expressed her excitement, “turned my dreams into a reality and I’m blessed to be in this position. IT’S ALL ABOUT THE U.” 

But before she’s able to compete in the mighty 200,000-square-foot Watsco Center, she must complete her task of taking her team all the way to the state championship. 

The Lady Crusaders of Bishop Kenny are well on their way, outscoring their opponents by the total points gained of 486-294 so far. Out of the 60 points the Crusaders earned against Lee High School, Roberts scored almost half of them, at 28 points.

While they still have a long way to go, Bishop Kenny and Jasmyne Roberts are playing each game with only one end goal in mind: becoming state champions. 

Written by: Lexi Fitzpatrick