Horace Jenkins' journey took him from Elizabeth, New Jersey to Division III, the NBA, and now the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame.

By Gordon Mann
D3hoops.com

This fall, the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame will welcome Horace Jenkins into its fraternity and celebrate a remarkable career that took him from Elizabeth, New Jersey to the NBA.

Even more remarkable is that career almost didn’t happen.

• Other SCB Profiles: Bo Ryan | Jack Sikma | John Rinka | Michael Harper
• From the archive: Jenkins, Paterson ready for second Final Four
• Jenkins named to first D3hoops.com All-Decade team

In the summer of 1998, Mufeed Thomas invited his friend Jenkins to play in a summer league game in nearby Newark. Thomas had just committed to play college ball at William Paterson University and invited his soon-to-be-head coach Jose Rebimbas to the game.

Jenkins had a lot going on in his life, between raising his young son, working, and thinking about college. Plus, he had a prior engagement that conflicted with this particular game. But Jenkins loved basketball and made it to the court.

So did Rebimbas, who came at Thomas’ suggestion that he check out Jenkins. Rebimbas was entering his fourth season as the head coach at William Paterson, just eight years removed from his own playing career on the Seton Hall team that reached the 1989 Division I title game.

Rebimbas was busy rebuilding the Pioneers program that had been mired in the lower half of the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) prior to his arrival. He came to the summer league game with tempered expectations and quickly noticed a buzz in the crowd focused on one player called “June.”

Minutes into the game, June came down and hit an eye-popping three that Rebimbas can still see in his mind vividly. “He just comes down the court at 100 miles an hour, stops on a dime, and drains a three on a double rim with chain nets.”

“I hope this is the kid,” Rebimbas said to himself and, sure enough, it was. Horace Jenkins, whom his friends called June, rewarded Rebimbas’ curiosity with a stellar game capped by an explosive crossover dunk over a 6-foot-7 center.

Jenkins remembers the game too, though he remembers it differently.

“I didn’t know Jose at the time, and he was just staring at me, and it made me uncomfortable. Now at halftime, we’re sitting on the bench, and I can see him staring at me through [the huddle]. Then, I could see he was asking about me, and that made me more uncomfortable.”

Eventually, Thomas caught wind of the situation and identified Rebimbas as Jenkins’ well-intentioned stalker. Then, Rebimbas introduced himself to Jenkins right after the game. Jenkins explained his situation – he was determined to go to college and considering an opportunity in Maryland. Rebimbas offered to be helpful and invited Jenkins to call him if Jenkins wanted to continue the conversation.

In a world without cell phones, the two engaged in a game of phone tag which both remember 26 years later – Jenkins called Rebimbas at home and got his wife Lisa, then Rebimbas called Jenkins back and got his mother. Eventually they connected and talked for a couple hours.

Jenkins wasn’t just drifting through life, waiting to be rescued.

After graduating high school, he worked for a couple years, including as an electrician to support his son. “I got $25 per light fixture, and that was pretty good money.” And of course, Jenkins was still playing a lot of basketball, including at a college showcase in Maryland where his stellar play opened the door to enroll at Cecil Community College.

After talking with Rebimbas, Jenkins agreed to visit the William Paterson campus, where he was impressed by what he saw and heard. He was also impressed by how Rebimbas got Jenkins to campus.

“He came to pick me up at the housing project to bring me to campus. Not a lot of people would come to pick me up where I lived. It meant a lot to me.”

Jenkins weighed his options, talked with his mom and decided to pursue the opportunity at William Paterson, partly to be closer to his family. He enrolled at Union County (N.J.) College for the fall semester and then transferred to Wiliam Paterson. Meanwhile, the Pioneers started the 1998-99 season without Jenkins and dropped six of their first eight games, including four NJAC losses.

“It was hard to wait,” Reimbas recalls. His patience was soon rewarded.

Jenkins powers Pioneers to D3 peak

Jenkins did not need much time to get acclimated to Division III basketball.

In his first season, Jenkins led the Pioneers in scoring (21.9 points per game), assists, steals and was second in rebounds despite being listed as 6-foot-2. He also led the team in field goals despite missing the first eight games of the season.

With Jenkins on the roster, the Pioneers turned their season around quickly and completely. They won three of their final four non-conference games and then won seven straight in conference, securing an NJAC playoff spot. Despite losing to Richard Stockton in the conference tournament, Rebimbas’ squad received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and made the most of its second chance.

The Pioneers rolled over Staten Island in the tournament’s first round, beat conference rival Rowan in the second round, and then defeated Catholic University and Stockton the next weekend to reach the national semifinals. Paterson’s national title hopes ended with a loss to eventual national champion UW-Platteville, but Rebimbas vowed his young Pioneers would be back in the national spotlight.

Horace Jenkins works against UW-Platteville All-American Merrill Brunson in the 1998 national semifinals.

Under Rebimbas, in the span of just three years, William Paterson went from .500 to national title contenders. And in the span of 23 games, Jenkins went from Newark summer league to NJAC Player of the Year.

His second season was even better. He again led the team in scoring (21.3 points per game) and steals, tallied a team-high 111 assists, and led the team in rebounding. He took home NJAC Player of the Year honors and was named a D3hoops.com second team All-America pick.

The Pioneers also continued their rise as a team. William Paterson went 15-3 in conference, beat Stockton for the conference title, and then edged Scranton 60-58 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Pioneers’ season ended with a surprising 57-52 loss to Catholic in the Round of 16, but their 23-5 mark was the program’s best to that point.

Jenkins came into college basketball close to fully formed in terms of his own skill set.

“I was a dynamic player. I was a great defender,” Jenkins recalled. “I could do things that you just didn’t see normally. I was very quick and had a good crossover. Extremely explosive. Good pull up jump shot.”

That allowed Rebimbas and the Pioneers’ coaching staff to focus on honing Jenkins’ skills as a leader.

“The change wasn’t from a physical or skills standpoint. We didn’t change his game at all,” Rebimbas recalls. “The difference was having him understand shot selection. Understanding timing and score. Who has touched the ball and who hasn’t touched the ball. I changed his mentality.”

That mental training included putting Jenkins in increasingly difficult positions to see how he’d react.

“In practice, we put our four worst players with him, scrimmaging, and he would wink at me and say, ‘Good try.’ And his team would win. Then I’d do the same thing with 4-on-5.”

Jenkins also remembers those tests.

“He would put seven people on us to press us and, if we turned the ball over, we’d have to run. And we’d break the press.”

Rebimbas also recognized early in Jenkins' career that he had a chance to keep playing after college. In the era before every Division III game was streamed online, NBA scouts had still taken notice of Jenkins and started to come to campus to watch him play and ask about his life off the court.

“In my senior year, it was amazing because they would have a section [of the stands] that was barricaded off for individual NBA teams,” Jenkins recalls. “I played it cool, but it was like ‘wow.’”

The Pioneers' other players recognized that they were part of something very rare and relished the opportunity to help elevate Jenkins his game. Having NBA scouts lurking around campus put some extra spunk in everyone’s step. And so did winning.

In Jenkins’ final season, the Pioneers finished alone atop the NJAC with a 15-3 record and won another conference title. William Paterson ripped through the early rounds of the 2001 NCAA Tournament, beating their first two foes by 37 points. The Pioneers booked a return trip to the national semifinal by beating Christopher Newport 86-75 in overtime on the road.

Now a veteran team with Final Four experience, the Pioneers defeated Illinois Wesleyan, 67-52, in the national semifinals. The Pioneers’ dream season and Jenkins’ college career ended one win short of a national title when Catholic University once again upset the Pioneers, 76-62. Jenkins finished among Division III’s leaders in scoring and steals, was selected to the All-Tournament and D3hoops.com All-America team, and was named the NABC's 2001 National Player of the Year.

While Jenkins’ college career was complete, his playing days clearly were not.

The NBA scouts’ attendance at Pioneers’ games fueled speculation that Jenkins would be selected in the NBA draft. Jenkins dazzled at the pre-draft Portsmouth (Va.) event and drew the attention of dozens of eager sports agents. Former Detroit Pistons head coach Chuck Daly called out Jenkins as a potential lottery pick, and ESPN dispatched a video crew to chronicle Jenkins’ unlikely journey to the NBA as part of its ESPN The Life television series.

Despite all that anticipation, Jenkins’ journey did not lead to an NBA opportunity or an ESPN documentary. He went undrafted, the camera crews disappeared and Jenkins turned his attention to opportunities overseas.

And this time, Jenkins’ patience was rewarded.

Taking one more chance on a dream

Looking back on his basketball journey after college, Jenkins is honest, introspective, and thankful.

“Honestly, I was disappointed [about not being drafted],” Jenkins admits from his home near Easton, Pennsylvania. “I had ESPN the Life doing a documentary on my journey. Chuck Daly said, 'If I’m a GM, I see Horace going as high as 12.'”

But instead of lingering in his regret at home, Jenkins headed to Italy where he played for two seasons. Then, Jenkins signed a contract to play with AEK Athens, one of the top teams in Greece.

“When I was in Greece, I felt at home.”

Jenkins played like he had back in New Jersey, leading AEK Athens in scoring, assists, and steals per game. While Jenkins flourished and received All-Star recognition, he once again drew the attention of NBA scouts.

The Detroit Pistons assigned one of their scouts to track another player on AEK Athens and that scout found himself watching Jenkins. The Pistons reached out to Jenkins’ agent and offered him a summer league spot. By this time, Jenkins was familiar with the dance – an NBA team calls him, impressed with his play, offers a short-term opportunity and a dream of making the NBA, and then fades into the background again.

“I had already heard this a bunch of times, and I had heard this for the last three years. I was cool finishing my career overseas,” Jenkins explains.

Jenkins told his agent he wasn’t interested in the offer, but the agent didn’t relay that to the Pistons. So, the offer came again when Jenkins was back home in New Jersey, after the season in Greece ended. His agent had booked him on a flight to Detroit's summer league games, but Jenkins didn’t intend on using the ticket.

“I was telling my mom: ‘I don’t want to keep chasing something to try and prove myself.’ ”

“She said, ‘June, I have a good feeling about this.’ My mom made it make sense and she talked me into it. My agent called me, and I decided that I’d go. She spoke it into existence.”

Jenkins threw some clothes in a bag and headed for Detroit, where he once again dazzled. This time he caught the eye of Pistons President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars. Fresh off winning the 2004 NBA title, Dumars was looking to build backcourt depth around Chauncey Billups and asked to speak to Jenkins after his strong performance.

“I go up to his hotel room, and he’s talking to me about everything that he saw. How I’d be the perfect complement to Chauncey Billups.”

Jenkins was flattered – it’s not every day you’re wooed by the NBA Executive of the Year – but also skeptical.

“I know you feel like you've heard this before,” Jenkins remembers Dumars telling him. “I’m a man of my word. After this summer league, we’re going to sign you.”

Detroit did sign Jenkins, bringing him into the NBA a few seasons after it looked like that opportunity might never materialize. Jenkins spent the 2004-05 season with the reigning NBA champions and head coach Larry Brown. He practiced alongside Billups, Rasheed Wallace, Lindsey Hunter and Ben Wallace.

And then, on December 3, 2004, Jenkins made his NBA debut against the San Antonio Spurs, in a preview of the 2005 NBA Finals. Twenty years later, Jenkins is still the last person to debut in the NBA after playing most of his career in Division III.

One night later, Jenkins scored eight points against the Charlotte Hornets and he hit double digits against the Atlanta Hawks that same week. Despite his good performance, there was not much opportunity to play, as Brown favored veterans during the Pistons’ bid to win another NBA title.

After the NBA season ended, Dumars spoke with Jenkins about sticking with the Pistons, but Jenkins’ competitive spirit took him back overseas, first to Israel and then Turkey where Jenkins won the championship that eluded him during college.

Years later, Jenkins looks back on his journey with gratitude for three people who helped him on an incredible journey almost never happened.

He’s thankful to Dumars who was, indeed, a man of his word. But, if Jenkins’ mother didn’t persuade him to take one more chance on his NBA dream, Dumars wouldn’t have had the opportunity to offer Jenkins an NBA job.

“I’m so thankful that my mom talked me into that [trip to Detroit] because I’m part of such a special fraternity. So few people get to touch the NBA floor as a player.”

And if Jenkins hadn’t made time for that 1998 summer league game – the one he almost skipped for another engagement – and had he not met Jose Rebimbas, who knows where his journey would’ve led.

“Someone asked me my favorite coach, and it’s Jose. Larry Brown was my coach, and he was a great coach, but he didn’t get anything new out of me.”

Jenkins carries more than fond memories of Rebimbas. “I stole some of his methods and I do the same thing with coaching my daughter.”

And in return Rebimbas has the memories of coaching one of the greatest players in Division III basketball history.

“It was an amazing experience, an amazing journey,” Rebimbas reflects from his home near Seton Hall where he coaches D-I women’s basketball. “He made the most of the opportunity that he got. A lot of kids get opportunities, and they don’t take advantage of them. He was able to get the most out of his experience.”