UNLV Basketball: Rebels get massive future scoring help in David Jenkins

UNLV Basketball’s rebuilding efforts took a great step this weekend, landing 20 ppg transfer guard David Jenkins. The impact won’t be just one the court either.

New UNLV Head Coach TJ Otzelberger has been hard at work in retooling the roster, looking to keep the current players while also adding new talent. He was able to land one of the best transfers this offseason in David Jenkins, a 6’2 guard who averaged 19.7 ppg on 45% shooting from three-point range.

While Mike Daum was getting scoring records at South Dakota State in the last couple of seasons, he got plenty of help from Jenkins. And even though he was playing in the Summit League, don’t think the high scoring guard didn’t put up big numbers against the better teams on the schedule. As a freshman, he had 23 and 22 points respectively against Iowa and Ole Miss, then putting up a season-high 31 points in an overtime loss to Colorado.

Jenkins was more consistent as a scorer overall in his sophomore campaign and had some explosive outputs. He had a career-high 35 points against Memphis on 8/11 three-pointers and 32 just a few days before versus Colorado State. This is a true scoring guard who is efficient from the field.

After his head coach left for the UNLV job, Jenkins entered the transfer portal, where he received a ton of interest. Oregon and Gonzaga were also in contention and offered the guard a role on a potential top-25 team. But in the end, the relationship between Jenkins and Otzelberger proved to be too much to overcome.

For the Rebels going forward, they’ll have Jenkins for two more years after sitting out this upcoming season. He joins Tulane transfer Moses Woods as guys who’ll sit out. The coaching staff has been working hard to bring in talent for this upcoming season, signing grad transfers Elijah Mitrou-Long and Vitaliy Shibel.

The news could get even better, with the possible returns of frontcourt players Joel Ntambwe and Shakur Juiston, who both entered the transfer portal after Marvin Menzies was let go. Amauri Hardy (returning leading scorer and passer) and big man Cheikh Mbacke Diong has already announced that they will be a part of this new staff.

UNLV Basketball looks to be building again and having a player like Jenkins coming in can have a big recruiting effect. 2020 prospects know they’ll have a 20 ppg scorer to work with and with Nevada taking a step back, the Rebels can seize the opportunity to make their move in the Mountain West. It might not be next season but with Jenkins eligible, don’t be surprised if this program is a favorite in 2020-21.