Kris Jenkins made arguably the most clutch play in NCAA Tournament history. Other than the flashbacks to his big shot you really don’t hear much about Jenkins anymore. This is the story of Kris Jenkins.
Jenkins was born on November 20, 1993 in Columbia, South Carolina. While he was young he moved to Baltimore. While in Baltimore, Jenkins met Nate Britt, North Carolina alumni. Nate and Kris became close friends playing on an AAU team coached by Nate’s father. Unfortunately Kris’s mother had some personal complications and she had to leave. His mother, wanted Kris to stay with the Britt family to give him a healthier environment in order to further his basketball career.
Kris attended Gonzaga College High School in D.C. where he continued his basketball career. Kris was named the 2012-2013 Boys Basketball All-Met Player of the Year by The Washington Post. Kris was ranked as the #1 player in D.C. and the #76 player nationally according to 247 Sports. Jenkins chose to attend Villanova.
Jenkins played in 34 and 36 games respectively in his freshman and sophomore seasons at Villanova. He averaged 4.1 and 6.3 PPG in those two seasons. Jenkins blossomed in his junior season scoring a career-high 31 points against DePaul. He averaged 13.6 PPG on the season and averaged 19.7 PPG in the Big East Tournament. He was also named to the All-Tournament Team. Having scored 13, Jenkins led Villanova to beat Kansas and advance to the Final Four. Jenkins was named the MOP in the South Regional.
On April 4, 2016, in Houston, Villanova and UNC squared off in one of the most memorable National Championships of the last decade.
The Wildcats were up 74-71 before North Carolina G Marcus Paige drained an off balanced 3-pointer to tie the game. Ryan Arcidiacono dribbled it up the middle of the court and handed it to the trailing Jenkins who hit the game winning 3 as time expired to win the championship.
Jenkins elected to come back to Villanova for his senior season where he averaged 13.1 PPG and was named Honorable Mention All-Big East.
Jenkins finished his Villanova career with 1,383 points. He was a part of a senior class that never lost consecutive games.
Jenkins went undrafted in ’17, and joined the Wizards for the 2017 Summer League.
Later, Jenkins was selected 14th the 2017 G League Draft by the Sioux Falls Skyforce but was released after only 6 games. About a month later he joined the Yamika SunKings of the NAPB. 2 months later he was suspended and later released for “not willing to put in the time and effort” to succeed. He then signed with a club over in Germany but was released a few months later. In February of this year Jenkins went back to Villanova to assume a role in Student Athlete Development.
Jenkins will forever be known as a college basketball legend. Even despite the fact his game just couldn’t translate to the professional game.
It is good to see Jenkins return to Villanova. Jenkins will always be one of the first names mentioned when college basketball fans think about clutch March Madness moments.
