Tember Marchant’s relatives in South Georgia are going to be seeing a lot more of her.

 Marchant, a senior point guard at Murray County, has signed a combination athletic-academic scholarship to play basketball at Darton College in Albany.

 “My grandfather (Tom Davis) lives in Tifton, about 45 minutes from Albany, and I have a lot of family in that region,” said Marchant, a four-year varsity player for the Lady Indians. “They’re all excited to see me play.”

 Marchant is originally from Tifton and moved to Chatsworth prior to the first grade.

 “As soon as I started playing, I fell in love with the game. I was always in the gym and in middle school I developed more skills and knew this is what I wanted to do.”

 Marchant’s grandfather tipped Marchant off about Darton, a junior college, having seen a few of the Lady Cavaliers’ games on television. Marchant sent a tape to the school and coach Laura Blackwell responded with an e-mail and invited her to a tryout.

 At the tryout, Marchant felt she performed well and was “basically offered” a scholarship before she left for home.

 “I guess they liked what they saw from me,” said Marchant, who will follow a pre-med course of study. “Two weeks later they sent me a text saying they wanted me to play down there.

 “With athletic money, the HOPE and Pell grants, it’s a full ride. I looked at LaGrange College and Bryan College, but this was the best opportunity I was given. I’m ready to get down there and start playing.”

 In addition to being close to relatives for the next two years, coaches’ eagerness to sign Marchant swayed her to attend Darton.

 “They made it like they needed me down there,” she said. “Darton coaches stood out a lot more.”

 The 5-foot-4-inch Marchant led the Lady Indians this past season in three categories: points (9.0 average), assists (1.3) and steals (2.2).

 She shot 33.2 percent from the field, 23.1 from 3-point distance, and 53.0 from the free-throw line for the Lady Indians, who finished the season 6-18.

 Darton went 17-13 last season. The Lady Indians never posted a winning record in Marchant’s four years. She may be able to change that on-court success rate with the Lady Cavaliers.

 “Until I went down there, I didn’t know much about the school except what I read on the Internet,” Marchant said. “They’ve got a pretty good team. Hopefully, I can do well enough to get a chance to play two more years at another school.”