At one time, like most basketball players, Jaymeson Norfort dreamed of being the kind of player who could dominate a game by dropping in 20 or 30 points a night.

“That just wasn’t his cup of tea,” his coach, Kelvin Carter, said with a soft chuckle.

Norfort’s real gift, it turns out, was in preventing points rather than scoring them. After a three-game stretch in the 2017-18 season in which he blocked 27 shots — and scored 10 points — Norfort made the shrewd decision to become a defensive stopper.

It was a decision that paid off big, and ultimately led to a scholarship with Holmes Community College. The 6-foot-4 forward from Vicksburg High signed with the junior college two weeks ago and celebrated with a formal ceremony Monday.

“It’s a good feeling to get to that next level,” Norfort said. “It seemed like a better school to go to, the one that fit me best. I like the environment and how they run the basketball team.”

Vicksburg High reached the MHSAA Class 5A state tournament each of the past two seasons, and Norfort’s contributions were a big — if understated — part of it.

In 47 games over two varsity seasons, Norfort had five double-digit scoring games and scored a total of 200 points. He had 114 blocks, including four games with seven or more, and altered opponents’ game plans by becoming a known presence inside.

Norfort only averaged 1.6 blocks per game this season, half of what he did in 2017-18, but Carter said some of that was because opponents knew his reputation and avoided him.

“I told him, ‘In order for you to be on the floor, you’ve got to be the defensive king. The paint is your area. This is where you live and nobody can invade your territory.’ And when he bought in, he bought all the way in,” Carter said. “In practice, guys wouldn’t even drive. Some teams we played, if he was in the game they wouldn’t go to the basket because he is going to contest everything. And he had controllable contestment. At one time he was fouling a lot. As he learned to block a shot, he judged the shot and contested very well and it helped us a whole lot.”

Norfort pointed to that three-game stretch last season as a turning point in his high school career. He had eight, seven and 12 blocks in consecutive games against Ridgeland, Germantown and Ridgeland again. After that, he said, he started to realize what the real strength of his game was and focused on getting better at it.

“That’s the first thing on my mind is defense,” Norfort said. “It’s like second nature. It just comes to me. One game I had a lot of blocks and I just said, ‘I’m going to get better at this.”
His skill gained the attention of several college and junior college coaches, including Holmes’ Jason Flanigan. Flanigan was looking for a defensive stopper and scouted Norfort during a six-point, six-rebound, six-block performance against Holmes County Central at the Jackson Public Schools Tournament in December.

It didn’t take long for Norfort to buy in again.

“He told me he was looking for a high energy defensive player. That’s me,” Norfort said.
Carter was obviously happy to see his player get a chance to continue his basketball career. He was even happier to see a guy who wasn’t the flashiest player around, but rather one who did the grunt work for the good of the team, get the opportunity.

“It’s very heartwarming, just due to the fact that the kid works so hard. He had a slow start. When he denied himself and bought in, the energy that he brings to a basketball team made a lot of coaches say, ‘We’ve got to have him,’” Carter said. “You’re talking about a guy who might score five or six points, or no points. But he might have six or seven blocks and adjust 15 or 20 shots. With his energy and effort, if he can continue to play like that and get better he’s going to be all right playing basketball.

“I’m very proud for the young man because he’s a very humble kid,” Carter added. “He’s a man of few words, but he truly loves the game of basketball. It’s so soothing to see a kid like him, without the 25 points a game and all that, get an opportunity to go play college basketball.”