Jasmine Newkirk has one ring. She wants another one.
Newkirk is a 24-year-old junior point guard at Winston-Salem State and a big reason the Rams are on a nine-game winning streak and among the hottest teams in the CIAA.
Newkirk got her first championship ring during the 2006-07 season, when she helped N.C. Central win the CIAA title as a redshirt freshman. LaQuanda Williams, 25, also played on that team, and the Rams landed both thanks to Division II eligibility rules.
"I knew what to expect in the CIAA, and most of the same coaches are still in the league so that part hasn't been hard," said Newkirk, who averages 11.9 points and 3.5 rebounds and a team-best 3 assists per game.
The Rams (12-5 overall) opened CIAA play Saturday with a 74-56 victory against Fayetteville State. Outside the locker room after the game, Newkirk was asked what her position was. Kevin Manns, WSSU's assistant athletics director in charge of media relations, answered instead, saying: "She's just a player."
Coach Steve Joyner Jr. mostly uses the 5-foot-8 Newkirk at point guard, but he also can play her at shooting guard or move her down low to small forward. Whatever the role, Joyner said that Newkirk's best attributes are maturity and experience.
"Jasmine is a Derek Rose for us, but I tease her that her first step isn't as good as Derek's," Joyner said, comparing Newkirk to Rose, the Chicago Bulls' do-everything star. "Everything that he brings to the Bulls, she can bring as far as creating for others."
The Rams have time to rest this week — they won't play again until 2 p.m. Saturday at St. Augustine's. They haven't lost since Dec. 10 (75-57 at Virginia Union), and they cleared the air from that game with a team meeting after Christmas break. Things have gone well ever since, and the bid for the program's first CIAA title continues.
"We definitely have the talent to win (the CIAA title)," Newkirk said. "We just have to stay humble. We are on a winning streak now, but that doesn't mean much at this point. We don't have any rings yet."
Newkirk decided to leave school after her championship season at N.C. Central and wasn't sure if she would play basketball again. But Joyner, who was an assistant at Central in 2005, had recruited Newkirk and Williams, and he got in touch with both after landing the job at WSSU.
"I tease them all the time that if they aren't going to lead us, there's no reason for them to be here," Joyner said. "You would love to have players of their caliber help the program but at their age they could be somewhere else. But they wanted to be here to add experience for us."
Newkirk and Williams are juniors in eligibility and could return next season. Newkirk, a mass communications major with a 3.0 grade-point average, said she most likely will graduate in May, so this could be her only chance at that second title.
Newkirk admits that she and Williams have shown off their championship rings to their WSSU teammates.
"I'm trying to get two rings with two different schools," she said.
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