Remembering Horace Jenkins

Now I know the title says Remembering Horace Jenkins and titles like that are usually left for those that have passed on. Make no mistake about it, Horace Jenkins the basketball player is alive and well. Matter of fact, Jenkins or "Junie" as he was known amongst his friends is not even retired. No the "oldest rookie" in the NBA is still playing the game he loves, this time for Italian team Climanio Bologna.

I came across an article recently from the past, about Horace, and it was this article which inspired me to write.

Back when I was in the 8th grade, my father read a short snippet in the newspaper about how the upcoming Division III basketball game between the Montclair State RedHawks and the William Paterson Pioneers was going to be a big game, with the winner deciding who would win the New Jersey Athletic Conference that season. The game was going to be played at William Paterson and since we lived just minutes from Willy P's gym, he decided to take me.

Really knowing nothing about either team and the concept of Division III basketball fairly new to me, I had low expectations for this game. As we arrived to what I'd call a rather frenzied atmosphere, my father and I were a little late, however managed to find two seats in the home side bleachers. Just minutes before the game was starting, a player on from William Paterson was rewarded for scoring his 1,000th point. Again, this achievement didn't quite mean what it means to me today, but I applauded all the same. Little did I know how much the player receiving the award, Horace Jenkins, was going to suck me in as a fan and change my life as a basketball player.

The first particular game that I saw him in, that game against Montclair State, I had no idea who he was, or that I would pay any particular attention to him. I don't remember much about said game, though I do remember that in the closing moments of the game, William Paterson had the game in hand, and Jenkins got a steal and the opportunity to go to the basket uncontested, which he finished beautifully with a monster reverse dunk. This dunk absolutely brought the house down and hooked me.

As we left the Rec Center that night, all my father and I really knew was that we just watched some amazing basketball player do what he does best on the court, yet we didn't think anything out of the ordinary. It wasn't until we got home and my dad did some further digging to find out Jenkins' whole story. Jenkins became ineligible his senior year of high school and could not play ball. He went on to Union County Community College and through one season he averaged 20.6 ppg, but had to drop out when his son, Hakeem was born. He needed to get a job to support his son and the only ball playing he did was in pick up games.

This wasn't a bad thing. William Paterson's head coach, Jose Rebibmas went to one of these said pick up games to watch another player, Mufeed Thomas. Only one problem occurred, Rebibmas couldn't take his eyes off Jenkins. After the game, he approached Jenkins and told him about the school and if he'd like to attend and play basketball. The rest is history.

Jenkins led William Paterson to their best run in schools history. They made it to two Final Fours and even the National Championship Game in which they lost. I still remember sitting on my desktop computer that day, listening to the audio broadcast of the game. This was way before high speed internet, so the broadcast was bumpy, but I still had to support my guy. It was during his senior year also that they asked Jenkins to compete in the NCAA slam dunk contest. Guys like Jeff Trepanier from USC and other Division I schools all represented and then there was little Horace Jenkins, from William Paterson College as Dickie V called it. Well, Jenkins not only won the thing, but did so in electrifying fashion.

It was in Horace's senior year that there began real chatter about the possibility of Horace getting drafted into the NBA from Division III. During that summer when he went and participated at the Portsmouth Invitational Camp, I read and followed the updates as much as I could. However, as good as his story was, the draft selection was not to be.

Jenkins held his head high though and played in Europe, his shot at the NBA yet to come. Either way this story isn't about Jenkins' time in the NBA. (He did make the Pistons roster in 2004 yet not their playoff roster. He finally achieved his NBA dream at the ripe age of 29.) For me, this is story about all those times, going with my father to the William Paterson Rec Center and watching Horace play. He taught me swagger. He taught me leadership. He taught me perseverance. All and all, he basically inspired me to become a better basketball player and I thank him for that.

Below is one other story I found about him:

D3 Horace Jenkins Shocks the World