St. John’s guard Daniss Jenkins officially signed a two-way contract with the Detroit Pistons on Saturday.
Jenkins becomes the first Johnnie since Julian Champagnie to sign a professional contract in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is also the first Red Storm player to ink a deal with an NBA team since Naismith Hall of Fame Head Coach Rick Pitino took over the program.
“DJ is a leader,” Pitino told NJ Advance Media. “He puts winning above self. He brings it every practice and every game. He plays both ends of the floor. He does it all, scores, passes and makes players better around him.”
An All-Big East Second Team selection following the 2023-24 regular season, Jenkins averaged team-highs with 14.9 points, 5.4 assists (3rd in BIG EAST) and 1.6 steals (7th in BIG EAST) over 33 starts in his lone season with the Red Storm.
The 6-foot-4 guard scored double figures on 28 occasions, including six 20-point showings. In conference play, Jenkins’ game skyrocketed with 16.1 points per contest, shooting 47.1 percent from the field. He also ranked fourth in the BIG EAST averaging 5.1 assists and hit 2.0 3-pointers per game in conference action.
The Dallas, Texas, native shined in St. John’s 80-66 victory over No. 15/15 Creighton on Feb. 25 at Madison Square Garden. Jenkins unloaded a season-best 27 points to go with six assists in 31 minutes of action.
Jenkins finished ninth on the program’s single-season assist list with 179. Over the course of the season, he had eight or more assists in eight games, including a season-high nine assists in a win at Butler on Feb. 28.
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