Kerry Bascom


Kerry Bascom is a retired American women's basketball player. She played forward and center for the Connecticut Huskies from 1987 to 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, first Big East Tournament championship, first NCAA tournament appearance, first NCAA Tournament win, and the first ever NCAA Final Four appearance. 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.

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. She scored 12 points in four minutes in her first game.
During her sophomore year her team won the Class S basketball championship, and during her junior and senior year her team was runner up in the Class M championship. Kerry finished high school as Epping’s all-time leading scorer.

AAU

Bascom had a friend from a rival school call her and invite her to try out for an Amateur Athletic Union team in Massachusetts since they didn’t have any in the New Hampshire area. Bascom and her friend were two 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.

College

Bascom's mom had been very sick with multiple sclerosis so Bascom wanted to stay close to home. She narrowed her college selection down to UConn, Boston College, Syracuse University, Rutgers University and Boston University. She chose UConn, which was 2½ hours away. Bascom was coach Geno 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.
When Bascom 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. 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, Bascom 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. Bascom graduated with a bachelor's degree in sociology from UConn.
The Bascom wore #24 as a uniform number. 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. Charde Houston later went on to wear number 24.
As of 2009, 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. 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 of inductees to the University of Connecticut women's basketball "Huskies of Honor" recognition program.
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".

University of Connecticut statistics

World University Games (1991)

Bascom played for the USA team, one of sixteen teams at the fifteenth World University Games 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.

After college

Kerry was Coach Auriemma’s first player to go overseas to play basketball. She played in Spain for one season. 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. Kerry and her husband were married for about 15 years but are presently divorced, although they still remain friends.

Awards