It’s been just one season since the “Jazz effect” showed up in Abilene, and it’s already hard to imagine Wildcat basketball without it.

To be more specific, her name is Jazmyn Stone. The redshirt junior transfer from Federal Way, Washington, spent her entire collegiate career at the College of Charleston before becoming a Wildcat this season. Since then, she has become the heart of the ACU squad, one that didn’t get its rhythm until the eighth grade, when she started playing basketball.

“I was a runner for most of my life,” Stone said. “I was like, ‘I need something a little more exhilarating.’”

The late start to basketball, Stone said, was not a setback but instead a foundation for her game. Being introduced to basketball was not about being flashy or trying anything extra. Her father, David, who played collegiate ball too, focused her on the fundamentals and making that the foundation of her game.

“I wasn’t allowed to shoot threes for a long time,” she said. “It was all about getting the fundamentals down. I didn’t realize it at first, but facilitating just came naturally. Finding people, creating plays, I was like, ‘Whoa, I’m doing this without even thinking about it.’”

Basketball came easily to Stone, and even a background in running translated early into her game. That is still seen now, as she is known for her quickness, constant movement and pesky defense, showing a presence whenever she steps onto the floor.

Despite the early success, the path from then on was far from smooth.

Stone suffered an early ACL injury in her sophomore year of high school at Annie Wright, just a few years into basketball.

“You have to ask yourself, ‘Do I want to spend a whole year working back to this?’” Stone said. “And for me, it wasn’t even a question.”

But that question was asked again, not too long after.

After a promising freshman campaign at Charleston, following the starting point guard going down and leaving room for the true freshman to start, she went into her sophomore season and suffered another ACL injury that sidelined her for an entire year, which she said brought physical and mental pressure.

“There were no days off,” Stone said. “And that wasn’t basketball, that was just rehab. Learning how to walk normal again, all of that.”

The experience reshaped her mindset. She said she was so disappointed that even watching her team run suicides was something she missed while being sidelined.

When she came back to the game the next season, Stone returned with a stellar performance. She scored 20 points while rooted in gratitude to play the game again.

“I went out there like it was my last game,” she said. “I didn’t know if I was going to play, so I just had fun.”

The turning point of her career, she said, changed the trajectory of her basketball journey, reinforcing the mindset she still carries today: control the controllables and give everything you have every day.

Jazmyn Stone, redshirt junior guard from Federal Way, Washington, shoots a three-point field goal(Photo by Daniel Curd)

That mindset led her to a decision to bet on herself and enter the transfer portal. Having a mutual connection with associate head coach Yannick Denson, who spent some time at Charleston, she said that, along with head coach Julie Goodenough, made the transition feel right, even with the usual corny things like team mottos.

“Pulling up clips of me from my other school and then comparing me to clips from people at the same position here,” Stone said. “They showed me exactly how I would fit. That meant a lot.”

Still, the cycle of adjustment continued. After starting at Charleston playing 30-plus minutes a game, Stone found herself in a different role at ACU, coming off the bench behind senior guard Breanna Davis and learning a new system.

“It was a process,” she said. “I had to figure out how I could contribute in any way possible.”

Goodenough said she saw the process take place, earning Stone more and more playing time down the stretch, eventually averaging around 22-plus minutes per game since ACU’s late February game against Utah Valley, likely earning her the starting role next season.

“It is really hard to come into a new program,” Goodenough said. “But she kept putting in the work and earned her playing time down the stretch.”

Much of this came from staying rooted in the eighth-grade basics, bringing energy, pace and intensity off the bench for ACU, but this time being able to shoot a couple more 3-pointers.

“She’s that fire for us,” ACU senior guard Natalia Chavez said. “That spark. She’s going to be on 10 every time she steps on the court.”

Looking ahead, Goodenough said she expects only the best from Stone. With a Wildcat team that wants to do special things and a core of returning players next season, Stone will take on a larger role as ACU’s starting point guard.

But she says her focus remains the same, from high school, through injury and change, to the bounce back that made her a foundational piece in the Big Country.

“Just giving everything I have,” she said. “Every day, every game.”