OMAHA, Neb. — The initiative wasn't all that big news. Three days after Rick Pitino lost Walter Creighton Jr. to Florida, he acquired Iona's backcourt mate Danis Jenkins.
That hardly moved the proverbial needle.
Unlike Creighton, who was named MAAC Player of the Year, Jenkins was not even named to the mid-major conference's first team. Some wondered if he was talented enough to be the lead guard in the Big East.
He was quickly overshadowed by players who were considered bigger additions, including Penn State's Jordan Dingle, Harvard's Chris Ledrum and top-40 high school prospect Simeon Wilcher. .
In retrospect, it seems foolish, even ridiculous, that he was so ignored. Jenkins is clearly Pitino's biggest addition since taking over. St. John's offense, which ranks 30th in efficiency, doesn't function as smoothly without him. In fact, he was the Iona guard the Hall of Fame coach had to acquire.
That's not a blow to Creighton, who is having a great season as Florida's leading scorer, but St. John's is having a better year than the talent-laden Gators. We needed a point guard. It needed a leader. Jenkins, a fifth-year graduate transfer, is both.
Although he got off to a slow start, he exceeded everyone's expectations except those associated with him and Pitino. He's as good as any point guard in the Big East, averaging 12.6 points on 42 percent shooting, 6.3 assists, 4.8 rebounds and just 1.6 turnovers over the last 12 games.
St. John's (12-4, 4-1) is off to its best start in league play since the 2000-01 season, winning 10 of 12 games before visiting No. 22 Creighton on Saturday. His 6.1 assists this season are the most by a Johnnie since Omar Cooke had 8.7 in 2000-01, but his biggest weakness has emerged: his 3-point shooting. Jenkins is shooting 37.5 percent in league play, compared to 25.5 percent in non-conference play.
“Joel Soriano is their MVP in my opinion, but Jenkins is the key to success or failure,” said a Big East coach, speaking on condition of anonymity. “He brings speed and tenacity on both ends of the floor. He knows well when to involve others and when to involve himself. He gives maximum effort. He’s a two-way player.”
What I love about Jenkins is his fearlessness. He has great faith in his abilities. In some cases, that can lead to bad shots early in the shot clock, but this area of his game has improved recently.
This is especially a strength in difficult times.
He wants to keep the ball in the clutch. He wants to be the guy who makes the big plays. We've seen it all season. When his opponent is running away, Jenkins tries to take command. That was evident in Wednesday's win against Providence. After the Friars started the second half with a 16-2 run to take the lead, Jenkins helped turn the tide by assisting on three layups and sinking a big 3-pointer.
“In those situations, they were playing really hard at the time and had a lot of energy. [their fans] It's getting noisy. I just told the players to take a deep breath, but now we have to fight fire with fire,” Jenkins recalled. “We can't afford to be disappointed. It's our turn to attack. That's my mindset and I just tried to get everyone on the same page with that mindset.”
Soriano is the captain and, as the Big East coach suggested, probably the MVP of this team, but Jenkins is definitely one of St. John's leaders. This actually started during team training in the spring and summer.
Jenkins wasn't able to participate because he was still working towards graduating from Iona and wasn't officially a member of the team yet, but that didn't matter. The 6-foot-4 Texan wanted to be around. He took it upon himself to get to know his new teammates and make sure they got to know him. With that in mind, Jenkins organized off-court activities, such as going bowling. For the new team to perform well, it had to be more than just basketball.
“Since DJ came here, we've gotten to know each other more and started hanging out and eating together,” Soriano said. “I feel like I've known him for years. I feel like he's my blood brother. There's nothing I wouldn't do for him. There's nothing I wouldn't do for all 14 members of the team.”
Regarding his relationship with Soriano, Jenkins called himself an “annoying little brother.” Like Pitino, he always pushes star centers because, as strong as Soriano is having a season, he thinks Soriano can do more.
“That's my job,” Jenkins said. “As a point guard, I have to make everyone around me better.”
All fall, Pitino told everyone that Jenkins was the best player on both ends of the floor, the only player they could count on to constantly create for others and bring to the defensive end. Some took this as a decline in the talent level of the rest of the team. It wasn't.
St. John's got a decent guard from Iona when needed.
Freshman Brady Dunlap (ankle) is doubtful to play Saturday, according to officials. He was injured in the second half of the game against Providence.
