The Breslin Center was packed with fans, with waves of the opposing team’s blue and orange colors clashing together in the stands. As the final buzzer sounded, East Lansing High School was officially dethroned.
A new state champion was crowned: Rockford High School. The Rams are on top of Michigan Division 1 high school basketball for the first time in 23 years, led by an elite roster and head coach Kyle Clough.
But at the heart of it all are two brothers, Jake and Josh Bascom.
Jake is a graduating senior and 6-foot-4-inch small forward who has built his game around hustle defense and dominant paint play. Josh is a sophomore and 6-foot-3-inch point forward who’s capable of guarding anybody and a strong playmaker. Both brothers can create their own shots.
Jen and Justin, the Bascom brothers’ parents, recalled the experience from the stands when watching them win the state championship.
“I’m a nervous watcher, so when that buzzer sounded I immediately had tears in my eyes, and we had a hug for a while, and [I’m] just happy that they got to share that experience,” said Justin.
“[Justin] is very quiet while watching the game and I’m always grabbing onto him, which probably drives him a little bit crazy. But just towards the end it was like, ‘oh my god they did this’, and just hugging each other and there were tears, just so much joy and excitement for all of them,” said Jen.
Josh has been making noise since his freshman year, where he was one of the first freshmen to make the Rockford varsity roster in 25 years. A year later, he was a key player in nabbing the state championship title.
Jen and Justin have watched their sons grow closer together through the sport of basketball and become best friends both on and off the court. The Bascom brothers have come a long way together, from playing against each other in the driveway growing up, to sharing the court and winning a state championship.
“They definitely had some battles, there’s been some tears, and some blood and all that. I think it’s one of those things with both of them, they’re uber competitive people,” said Justin. “But I think the cool thing about it is even though one may beat the other, and there may be blood or tears, or whatever, they get over it afterwards and they realize they’re best friends and brothers.”
Next year Jake will be heading to Central Michigan to continue his basketball career in college, becoming the first Rockford basketball player to commit to a Division 1 school in 20 years. Both Jake and Josh will become second generation college athletes, following in their father Justin’s footsteps, who played college basketball at Siena Heights.
Jake and Josh played together for two years in high school and developed a Batman and Robin dynamic on and off the court, as Coach Clough described it.
“[Josh] kind of played Robin to Jake’s Batman here for 2 years, and been totally ok with that, and embraced it,” said Clough. “The connection they have on the floor, you can’t teach that, and both of them believe in each other a lot.”
This Batman and Robin dynamic has been years in the making as they’ve grown up together.
“He’s always looking for me, I’m always looking for him, and we just had a special connection on the court,” said Josh. “Off the court we’re best friends, we’re with each other for pretty much the whole day, we’re always talking.”
Every team has a star player, the one to lean on in the big moments. For the Rams, that has been Jake. But often, in sports, the team isn’t defined by just the star player, but the supporting cast around them.
Taking on a role knowing they’re not the center of attention is hard for a lot of players. Rockford has a number of players who were happy to take that on, but none have embodied it better than Josh, who accepted the role of helping his older brother shine.
“I’m very proud of him, he’s going to play Division 1 basketball,” said Josh. “I wish we could’ve played for two more years, but it was special to have him out there with me.”
Clough has been a big part of the Bascom brothers' success, pushing Jake to get the most of his potential and has been there throughout his recruitment process. For Josh, Clough has full belief and expects him to make a big jump going into his junior year, stepping into his older brother's leadership role that he’s leaving behind.
“I’m not exaggerating, I’ve coached [Jake] harder than any player we have, and I think when you’re the best player it allows you to coach him that hard and push him out of his comfort zone and demand excellence out of him every day,” said Clough.
As Jake prepares for college life playing basketball at CMU, he knows his brother is going to succeed and is proud of how far he’s come.
“He’s done so much already, as a freshman and a sophomore, to see him continuing to grow, he’s not done yet, which is the really cool part. He’s got so much potential,whatever [he does], I know he’s going to succeed at, so I’m really excited to see where he goes,” said Jake.
Sharing the court has always been a dream for the Bascom brothers. Jake emphasized that it wouldn’t have been possible without the help and support of his family.
“They’ve always supported me and my brother, teaching us a lot of the work ethic stuff, making sure we work our hardest with whatever we do. I think that’s a big reason why me and my brother are at where we are today,” said Jake.
The Bascom family is close, and everyone is each other's biggest supporter in sports and in life. As Jake and Josh continue their basketball journeys, who knows where it will lead them, potentially to playing together again at CMU. No matter where basketball takes them, their parents just want them to know how proud they are of them.
“So proud, they are truly good people, they’re amazing and have such a great bond,” said Jen.