Summary by Mike Dyer:
Lakota West Firebirds 2018 wing Jasmine Ballew told WCPO she has committed to play basketball at Florida A&M University.
Ballew helped to lead the Firebirds (25-3) to a Division I regional runner-up finish this past winter. She was first-team all-Greater Miami Conference and Division I honorable mention all-district. She averaged 9.0 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.2 steals. Lakota West was ranked No. 24 nationally through 18 games this past season.
Ballew and her family had one of the most inspirational stories of the 2017-18 school year. As I reported in late January 2018, Lori Ballew, Jasmine’s mother, donated a kidney to Lori’s mother, Jan Houseton, Sept. 21, 2017 at Christ Hospital. Jan had been on dialysis for a year-and-a-half. In June 2015, Lori was found to be a donor match for a kidney transplant. The transplant turned out to be a success. The selfless act made a strong impression on 17-year-old Jasmine, who followed the progress of her mother and grandmother on the monitor in the hospital waiting room. She planned to attend school Sept. 21 but was worried butterflies in her stomach about the surgery would get the best of her.
The Lakota West girls’ basketball team sent numerous text messages asking for updates during the hours she waited for the surgeries to be completed. Jasmine was grateful for the team’s support and didn’t feel like she missed out on basketball workouts.
“What an amazing family this is,” Lakota West coach Andy Fishman said. “It really puts things in perspective when you are a coach and you have a student-athlete going through this stuff.”
Congrats Jasmine! #WestPride
