Hall of Fame
Janessa Bassett Pope served as the everyday centerfielder and lead-off hitter for four seasons at Dixie State. She was a four-time first team All-Pacific West Conference, and four-time first team all-NFCA and D2CCA all-region selection.
Bassett Pope is also the only player in program history to earn NFCA and D2CCA All-America accolades in all four seasons, including first team NFCA honors as a freshman in 2015.
Bassett Pope, who was voted 2015 PacWest Freshman of the Year and 2017 PacWest Defender of the Year, helped lead the Trailblazers to a 172-47 overall record during her four seasons.
She was also part of one PacWest championship (2015), four-straight NCAA West Regional appearances, three NCAA West Super Regional appearances, one Super Regional championship, and a 2015 NCAA Division II World Series appearance and national runner-up finish.
She also performed in the classroom as she was a four-time Academic all-PacWest pick.
Affectionately nicknamed “Cheetah,” Bassett Pope closed her storied career as the program’s all-time hits leader (284) and stolen bases (162), and is ranked first all-time in program history in runs (248), triples (28), total bases (413) and walks (115).
In addition, Bassett Pope is currently second all-time in career batting average (.426), third and fourth in games played/started (209), fifth in doubles (43) and sixth in slugging percentage (.620).
Bassett Pope also holds program single records in runs scored (81, 2015) and triples (12, 2015), and single games records for stolen bases (5 at BYU-Hawaii; 3/7/15) and triples (co-leader 2 twice in 2015).
A native of Stansbury Park, Utah, Bassett Pope completed her Bachelor’s degree in Biology at Idaho State University, and currently works as a cardiac unit nurse at a Boise-area hospital.
Janessa and her husband Aaron, who was a pitcher with the Trailblazer baseball program for four seasons (2015-18), recently welcomed their first child, son Benji, into the their family in January of 2025. The Pope family currently resides in Nampa, Idaho.
