Chesapeake’s Jenkins named national player of the week

By RICHARD MIDCAP

WYE MILLS – “The first day of class, I knew this was going to be a tough class, but she showed that she was going to make us work to get our grade and she was going to push us to do our best,” Jimmie Jenkins said of the Chesapeake College psychology class he took this past fall with Dr. Tracy Davenport.

“I’m not going to lie to you,” added Jenkins.  “In the past, I would have tried to get out of that class.  It took me maturing as a person.”

Those he is close to at Chesapeake College say Jenkins has matured as a person, as a student, and as a collegiate basketball player.  Jenkins’ numbers – he is averaging a double-double (27.9 points and 11.3 assists) – and his selection Thursday as the NJCAA Division II National Player of the Week illustrate his athletic maturation.  Jenkins, however, indicated his athletic improvement was at least in part a result of the other maturation processes, made possible by a large support system at college and at home.

“My Granddad, my Mom, the entire Chesapeake staff have all been so positive,” said Jenkins Thursday afternoon.  “So many people have helped me. Mr. (Richard) Potter, Mrs. DB (Dana Bowser), everyone in the Financial Aid Office, everyone in the Academic Support Center, Mr. (Jim) Davidson in registration, my teachers, Coach (Frank) Szymanski, Coach D (Joel Dearring), Coach (Alan) Mitchell, Coach Ralph (McNeil), Coach (Ed) Baker, my teammates.  So many people believe in me.”

“We’re super-proud of him for the way he turned it around,” said Bowser, the college’s director of first-year programs.  “It’s a story in itself for everyone else – always keep pushing.”

Jenkins – a star on Chesapeake’s 2010-11 men’s basketball team who missed the entire 2011-12 season while academically ineligible – indicated it took some tough love to turn him around academically prior to the start of the Fall 2012 semester.

“I felt like there was a lot of pressure on me,” recalled the Washington, D.C. native of the run-up to the Fall 2012 semester.  “Then I came and had a conversation with Mr. Potter, and he was very honest with me.  He said, ‘This is your last strike.  Take advantage or lose out.’ ”

Potter – the college’s director of multi-cultural affairs and co-director with Bowser of the FOCUS program to aid first-generation male students – remembered well the pre-semester conversation with Jenkins.

“I told Jimmie, ‘We’ve got to have a conversation about how to make this work because you’re running out of chances,’ ” recalled Potter.  “Due to our relationship, we were able to have that open, honest, frank and direct conversation about him becoming a more serious student and developing better work and study habits so he could become more successful in college.”

And Potter wasn’t the only staff member who laid it on the line with Jenkins.

“I told Jimmie, ‘This is it.  You are a king; you need to start walking like one,’ ” said Bowser.  “And then I walked out of the room.”

“And she gave me the mean face,” Jenkins recalled.

He said the messages were received loud and clear.

“I realized I had to step up to the plate, be a man and move forward,” said the 23-year-old Jenkins.

While most members of Jenkins’ Chesapeake College support system have known him for several years, an important person was added to the mix this fall – freshman women’s basketball player Sydney Small, who came to Chesapeake after a straight-A high school career.

“Sydney Small,” Jenkins said with a laugh.  “I got set up with her by Mr. Potter and she wasn’t having anything to do with me not getting my work done.  And my roommate Justin May has been important for me, too.”

“In my high school, a lot of teams studied together,” said Small, who graduated from Hutchinson (Kansas) High with a weighted grade-point average of 5.0 on a 4.0 scale.  “This year, I told them (Chesapeake’s men’s and women’s basketball players), ‘If anyone needs any help, I’m happy to help.’ ”

Small indicated Jenkins was engaged in his work almost from the start of the fall semester.

“When you first get back, it’s hard to get into a groove,” said Small.  “We (the women’s and men’s basketball teams) had study halls at different times, but we (Small and Jenkins) would go on to the LRC after that if we still had work to do.”

Jenkins brought this new intensity to his academics and a renewed commitment to basketball even though he was ineligible for the fall semester of the current season.

“I just took advantage of Coach Szymanski (the college’s athletic director and baseball coach) having the gym open,” said Jenkins.  “I would channel all the bad stuff into 300 to 400 shots a day, working on moves, working on my craft.  Everything that happens now, I just use it as motivation on the court.  Once I’m in between the lines . . . I just worry about basketball.  Everything outside the lines isn’t a factor.”

“His work ethic is what stands out,” said Szymanski of Jenkins.  “Coming in early, working on his shot – before practice, after practice.  He was the same way academically this fall – put in the early work in the LRC (Learning Resource Center), met with the tutors, met with his teachers.  The LRC and the Academic Support Center were huge helps.”

Academically, Jenkins said it wasn’t long before he began enjoying his classes – particularly Dr. Davenport’s.

“Her teaching style and her personality fit me,” recalled Jenkins.  “It probably took two weeks before I started receiving A’s on pop quizzes and papers and I said to myself, ‘Man, I really like this.’  Everyone likes being rewarded.”

“Hopefully, I bring some empathy . . . I truly want them (student athletes) to succeed,” said Dr. Davenport, who was a four-year rower at Division II Florida Institute of Technology.  “I also understand that the world doesn’t tolerate excuses very well.

“I try to find a balance – are they practicing at 5:30, or at midnight? – and work with them,” added Dr. Davenport.  “Yet when it comes to what’s due when (class deadlines), I have to be very firm with them because that’s how the world operates.”

“Jimmie’s a leader,” Dr. Davenport continued.  “He’s not afraid to stand up to things that are wrong.”

“Jimmie’s a born leader,” concurred Dr. Baker, a professor of kinesiology who also had Jenkins in class.  “I think he missed playing and missed the opportunity to lead these guys.”

Jenkins said his grandfather – who died over the Christmas holiday – has been a continuing source of motivation for him.

“When I lost my Granddad over Christmas break I decided to put more than 100 percent into basketball and college,” said Jenkins.  “I promised him I was going to graduate from college and go play pro basketball because that’s what he saw me doing.”

And then there’s his mother and his nearly 4-year-old son, Jahrei Montgomery.

“I’ve got to thank my Mom (Rufaro Jenkins),” said Jenkins.  “No matter what situation I’m in, she’s always positive about it and always encouraging.  And my son, Jahrei – I love playing for him.”

All of which helps explain Jenkins’ spectacular reentry into the JuCo basketball world.  Jenkins recently followed up a school-record 25 assists against CCBC-Dundalk with an equally amazing 44 points against Harford Community College, paving the way for the national recognition.

“It’s not easy going in at midseason and creating a role as a primary player,” Dr. Baker said of the way Jenkins hit the ground running in December when he regained his eligibility.  “I think he should be commended for that.”

Dearring, who also coached D.J. Nicholson in 2010 when the Skipjack guard was named the NJCAA Division II Player of the Week, agreed.

“It’s a great honor for Jimmie,” said Dearring, noting Nicholson and Jenkins were teammates that season.  “We’re very proud of him, and he deserves it.  But Jimmie would be the first one to tell you we have bigger goals as a team.  Jimmie’s the ultimate team player.”

Even with all the buzz Jenkins created with his return, he needed proof to believe he had actually been selected National Player of the Week.

“First, I had to go on the website and really check that it went through,” admitted Jenkins.  “I didn’t expect it.  I felt like I’m getting a little recognition, but my team really helped me get that reward.  That just motivated me even more.  It inspires me to want more in school and do more with basketball.”

The Skipjacks are 4-3 in Jenkins’ first seven games, but that record is misleading.  Two of those setbacks were highly competitive losses to Baltimore City and Hagerstown, which entered the weekend with a combined league record of 18-1, and the third was a 105-104 heartbreaker against Harford.

Most recently, the Skipjacks defeated Cecil College for the first time since 2003 and followed that up with victories over Montgomery College and the College of Southern Maryland to post their current three-game winning streak.

“This is the best team I’ve ever played on in all of my years in sports,” declared Jenkins on Thursday.  “We all have a desire to win.  I think that we work so hard and we are so competitive, at times we frustrate ourselves and try to win games on our own.”

That, Jenkins said, is quickly changing.

“Now we have a chemistry where no one’s on their own agenda and everyone’s buying into the team,” said Jenkins, adding he feels at home with this season’s squad.  “I can be myself.  They tell me I make them better when I know they make me better.”

NJCAA Player of the Week

Photo by Tom Miller

Chesapeake College guard Jimmie Jenkins, who scored 44 points earlier this month against Harford Community College, drives his way to the basket in a game against Hagerstown Community College last month.

Photo by Marcie Molloy

“I told Jimmie, ‘We’ve got to have a conversation about how to make this work because you’re running out of chances,’ ” recalled Richard Potter, director of multicultural affairs, seated on the left with Jimmie Jenkins.  “Due to our relationship, we were able to have that open, honest, frank and direct conversation about him becoming a more serious student and developing better work and study habits so he could become more successful in college.”

Photo by Marcie Molloy

Psychology Instructor Tracy Davenport, left, and First-Year Programs Director Dana Bowser, right, said they tried to provide Jimmie Jenkins with support while insisting on accountability.  Jenkins, who enjoyed the rigor of the Fall 2012 psychology class he took with Dr. Davenport, said, “I’m not going to lie to you.  In the past, I would have tried to get out of that class.  It took me maturing as a person.”

Photo by Marcie Molloy

Athletic Director Frank Szymanski, right, said it is Jimmie Jenkins’ “work ethic that stands out” while head men’s basketball coach Joel Dearring said, “We’re very proud of him, and he deserves it (NJCAA National Player of the Week).  But Jimmie would be the first one to tell you we have bigger goals as a team.  Jimmie’s the ultimate team player.”

Photo by Marcie Molloy

Financial Aid Director Mindy Schaffer, back left; Assistant Financial Aid Director Shaunda Lane-Sampson, seated far left; and Financial Aid Specialist Dawn Smith, seated far right, pose with Jimmie Jenkins, who credited the Financial Aid Office with helping him stay in college.  Not pictured is Financial Aid Specialist Laura Shahan.

Photo by Marcie Molloy

Professor of Kinesiology Dr. Ed Baker called Jimmie Jenkins “a born leader” who is putting those leadership skills to good use with the men’s basketball team now that he is back on the court.  “I think he missed playing and missed the opportunity to lead these guys.”

Photo by Marcie Molloy

Jimmie Jenkins credits Chesapeake College Academic Support Center staff with helping him turn around his collegiate academic career.  Pictured from the left are: Mike Brown (math tutor), Melina Baer (director of academic support), Angela Walls (math tutor), Jenkins, B.J. Mills (senior educational technologist ), Deja Acree (ASC student receptionist and former Chesapeake College women’s basketball player), Dwayne Curtis (Chesapeake College men’s basketball player), and Geraldine Caraballo (Chesapeake College student).