Horace Jenkins

Horace Jenkins

Personal information
Born	(1974-10-14) October 14, 1974 Elizabeth, New Jersey
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight	180 lb (82 kg)
Career information
High school	Elizabeth (Elizabeth, New Jersey)
College	Union County (1993–1994) William Paterson (1998–2001)
NBA draft	2001: undrafted
Playing career	2001–2009
Position	Point guard
Career history
2001–2002	C.S. Borgomanero
2002–2003	Virtus Roma
2003–2004	AEK Athens
2004–2005	Detroit Pistons
2005–2006	Hapoel Jerusalem
2006–2007	Efes Pilsen
2007	Hapoel Jerusalem
2007–2008	Fortitudo Bologna
2008–2009	Juvecaserta Basket
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball Reference

Horace Jenkins (born October 14, 1974) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the NBA and several teams in Europe and Israel.

Amateur career

Jenkins graduated from New Jersey's Elizabeth High School in 1993, but was ineligible from basketball his senior season due to academics. He played one season at Union County College before leaving to tend to the birth of his son, Hakeem. Over the next three and a half years, Jenkins worked for the United States Postal Service, as an electrician, and on the back of a garbage truck. Once he saved up some money, he decided he wanted to go back to college and play basketball.

While at William Paterson University, Jenkins was a three-time Division III Player of the Year (1999, 2000 and 2001). He also was a three-time Division III All-American, holds numerous school records, and also was named 2001 Basketball Times Division III Player of the Year. Jenkins was also the winner of the 2001 ESPN NCAA dunk contest, beating former Division I standout Jeff Trepagnier. USC's Trepagnier, one of college's most prolific high flyers, missed his last dunk attempt, and the 6'1" (1.85 m) Jenkins had one up his sleeve, wrapping it up with a foul line two-foot leaner.

Professional career

He attended all three NBA pre-draft camps, but was undrafted in the 2001 NBA Draft. In the summer of 2001, Jenkins attended rookie camp with the Orlando Magic and also received an invitation to training camp with Orlando. However, he declined the invite and signed with Cimberio Borgomanero, a team in the Italian second league. He received a guaranteed one-year contract. He spent the 2002 Summer League with the New York Knicks and the 2003 Summer League with the Seattle SuperSonics.

Horace Jenkins got his break in the summer of 2004, playing in the Summer League with the Detroit Pistons. He was playing for AEK Athens BC overseas, with Pistons draft pick Andreas Glyniadakis. Pistons President Joe Dumars was watching film of Glyniadakis and spotted Jenkins. Jenkins averaged 20.0 points, 3.3 assists and 1.8 steals in 12 games with AEK Athens BC. Impressed, Dumars invited Jenkins to summer camp in 2004. In summer camp, Horace averaged 8.2 points and 2.8 assists in 5 games. That was enough to garner a guaranteed contract from the Pistons, which he signed on August 4, 2004. His contract was a one-year deal worth $385,277.

Jenkins started the 2004–05 season on the injured list, but did see NBA game action 15 times. He was on the bench for the raising of the Pistons' 2004 championship banner, as well as the Pacers–Pistons brawl. Rumors circulated that he was being traded to the Chicago Bulls, and also that he was going to leave the Pistons and return to Italy. His NBA debut was a two-minute stint against the San Antonio Spurs. He scored 9 points the next night against the New Orleans Hornets. Jenkins scored a career-high 10 points on December 10, 2004 against the Atlanta Hawks. He was one of only three Pistons to score in double figures that game. He scored 2 points in his hometown of New Jersey on February 5, 2005. Five nights later, in a rematch of the 2004 NBA Finals, Jenkins scored 8 points in only 6 minutes against the Los Angeles Lakers. He scored 6 points in 20 minutes in his final NBA game, against the Charlotte Bobcats.

Although he was left off the playoff roster, the Pistons made the NBA Finals for the second straight year. Jenkins was notable for being one of the oldest rookies in the NBA, and his life story was the subject of a short presentation narrated by Jamie Foxx on ABC during the 2005 NBA Finals. Jenkins took the long route to the NBA, working to support his family and then playing in Europe before signing his first NBA contract at the age of 29.

In 2005 Jenkins signed a contract with the Israeli team Hapoel Jerusalem B.C. who got sponsored by billionaire Arkadi Gaydamak shortly before, he quickly became the star of the team (rivaling the former star from 2 years prior, Will Solomon, who played for the archrival Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C. that season) and led it to the Uleb Cup semi-finals and to the Israeli League Finals, however he was accused during the end of the season of sexual abuse in a local 19 years old mentally illed woman alongside his teammates Roger Mason Jr., Mario Austin and Hapoel Tel Aviv B.C.'s American point guard Marcus Hatten. In the summer of 2006, he signed for Turkish giants Efes Pilsen SK. In the middle of the 2006-2007 season, he returned to Hapoel Jerusalem after personal problems with his turkish coach rose (after the accusation from the previous year had been dropped), and helped the team reach the Israeli league Final Four in which the team lost to arch rivals Maccabi Tel Aviv. On August 3, 2007 Jenkins signed with Italian team Climamio Bologna on a one-year contract.

External links

• Sports Illustrated Article about Horace Jenkins