On May 1st the NBA’s Board of Governors voted to postpone the Draft Lottery and Draft Combine in Chicago due to an abundance of caution regarding the coronavirus pandemic. In addition to all of the seniors who have wrapped up their college careers, the early-entry deadline for underclassmen was August 3rd. The lottery took place on August 20th and the draft is scheduled to take place virtually on October 16th. We will spend the upcoming months interviewing as many members of the 2020 draft class as possible. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel continues our coverage by chatting with De’Riante Jenkins about balancing his offense with his defense and what it would mean to him to get drafted.
As a quarterback at Lake Marion High School 1 of your top receiving targets was Mike Williams, who went on to win an NCAA title at Clemson and had 1001 receiving YDS for the Chargers last year: how good was he back in the day, and could you tell at the time that he was going to become a star? For sure! He was great at catching the ball after getting up in the air: he is a generational talent and served as motivation for myself.
At Hargrave Military Academy you went 47-1 in 2016 and were named tourney MVP after scoring 28 PTS in a win over St. Thomas More School in the National Prep Championship game: what did it mean to you to win a title, and how were you able to play your best when it mattered the most? That whole year we worked out 2 times/day while getting our grades right. We bought in and it worked out.
You played for Coach Mike Rhoades at VCU: what makes him such a good coach, and what was the most important thing that you ever learned from him? Work ethic: he comes to work every day and preaches how your work ethic will go far beyond basketball.
You finished top-10 in the conference in STL twice in the past 3 years and led the team in 3PM twice in the past 3 years: how were you able to balance your offense with your defense? Defense is something that we worked on every day, in addition to the fundamentals. I did not shoot the ball as well as I had hoped the past 2 years but never got gun-shy due to my great coaches who believed in me.
You swept Dayton in 2019 but were swept by the Flyers in 2020: where does national POY Obi Toppin rank among the greatest players that you have ever seen? He is for sure a lottery pick and his game will translate to the NBA very well: I look forward to facing him again in the near-future!
In February you “stepped away from basketball” to deal with a personal health matter: how is your health at the moment? Everything has been taken care of and I am now light years from where I was back then.
Your team was scheduled to play in the opening 2nd round game of the 2020 A-10 tourney before it was canceled due to the coronavirus: what was your reaction when you 1st heard the news, and do you think that it was the right decision? I was not there at that time but when I heard what went down I was shocked from afar. I think it was the right move knowing what we know now and how the virus passes from person to person.
You are 1 of 5 seniors who graduated this spring and your former teammate Marcus Santos-Silva announced that he is transferring to Texas Tech: how do you think the team is going to do next season after losing so much talent? We still have young guys who are hungry and work hard so the team is in good hands. They will have a lot of leadership and the coaching staff will keep them in a good position.
What is it like to be an African-American man/basketball player in 2020? You get to see the world from a different view and discover whether people see you solely for your talent or as a person. I just hope to have a great life for my family: basketball can set you up for a generation and the platform of being an NBA player really inspires me.
What would it mean to you to get drafted, and what is the plan if you do not get drafted? I am looking to get there by going the long way. I just want to play basketball and am looking for 1 team to give me a chance. I have faith in the work I have put in to cash in an opportunity in the future.