Funeral held for basketball player who died on court

GRAFTON -- 17-year-old Grafton basketball player Joshua Davis-Joiner was laid to rest this weekend, after he died Monday during basketball practice.

Davis-Joiner was a senior at Grafton High School, and just days after finishing a basketball game with a slam dunk, something he couldn’t do in practice, he died suddenly.

Davis-Joiner's family, friends, basketball team and students from Grafton High remembered him during services this weekend. “I think it kind of goes along with how Josh taught us to always go for what we want in life. To go outside our limits and what we want to go for. He just taught us to go for the slam dunk every time, ”Jordan Schroeter said at the funeral.

On Monday afternoon, during basketball practice, Davis-Joiner collapsed on the court and never regained consciousness. Basketball was his first love, but while many will remember Davis-Joiner with a basketball, he’ll be thought of for so many more things, like his amazing smile. “He’ll always be remembered for that smile,” Clarissa Alexander said from a podium during Saturday’s service. “That thing was as big as they come and he could not have shown it off any better than he did.”

Other things that Davis-Joiner's friends and family will remember was his famous pink bow-tie and his love of Mike and Ike and Sourpatch Kids candy. Most of all, friends and family say he’ll be remembered for his upbeat personality and his ability to make people laugh. “He’s always happy, always optimistic, always had that smile,” Nikita Strokus said outside of the church. “Talk to anybody he knows and they will say something about the smile. He was always smiling.”

Another lasting memory will be a scholarship in Davis-Joiner's name that is being set up at Grafton High School.