This weekend was a big one for the Gonzaga basketball team. Admon Gilder visited on Saturday, on Sunday he committed, and at the same time he committed, Gonzaga was pitching themselves to another highly coveted transfer: South Dakota State's David Jenkins Jr.
Gonzaga isn't the only local program pushing hard for Jenkins talents, as Wazzu also made the guard's top seven schools.
GET TO KNOW JENKINS
Jeff Goodman with Stadium ranked Jenkins as the second-best transfer who would have to sit out a year on the market this off season. so obviously he is pretty talented.
Here are just some vitals on him: Last year he averaged 19.7 points per game and shot 45% from three while taking eight threes per game. He averaged 14 field goals attempted per game, making seven.
A scout told Goodman that quote, "David is a dynamic scorer that makes challenging shots at such an efficient level. He just needs to improve on the defensive end."
PROS AND CONS: GONZAGA
I mentioned before that Jenkins has to sit out a year if he transfers. He has two more years left to play after that. Seems very similar to a guy who had a pretty good year this year for Gonzaga... What's his name? Oh yeah, Brandon Clarke.
There's no doubt that Gonzaga pitched Jenkins hard on the redshirt year transfer program they have put in place. Ironically, that all started with someone who didn't transfer, but was mulling transferring, Kelly Olynyk. It continued with such names as Kyle Wiltjer, Nigel Williams-Goss, Jonathan Williams, and yes, Brandon Clarke. That is a huge advantage Gonzaga has.
There are, of course, plenty more advantages. Out of all the schools Jenkins is looking at, Gonzaga is the most consistent in terms of competing for national championships. That's got to be a huge draw.
Finally if Norvell were to leave, then there would certainly be room on the roster during the 2020-2021 season for an experienced sharp shooter alongside Corey Kispert.
Here's the one rub with GU: The Zags currently don't have a scholarship to offer Jenkins. Gilder took the last available scholarship, so now Gonzaga has to wait and see if Norvell or Tillie decide to declare for the draft, thus opening another scholarship. Basically Gonzaga has to hope that Jenkins is willing to be patient for a few weeks, unless there is someone else transferring from the roster that we are not aware of currently.
PROS AND CONS: WSU
And so that leads us to Washington State, who has plenty of open scholarships. In fact another one opened up today as news broke that Chance Moore is leaving the program. He never played a minute for the Cougars as he transferred in this winter.
Now like I said, Jenkins listed Wazzu in his top seven, but he has yet to visit the school. He took an official visit to Oregon two weekends ago, and Gonzaga this past weekend.
The appeal of Wazzu is this: Come in, and immediately be the guy after sitting out a year. There's no doubts that he would be one of the best players on Kyle Smith's roster once he is eligible, and would be a huge building block for the team. Him and CJ Elleby teaming up could result in some pretty awesome things.
Of course, there are a lot of risks coming to Wazzu that are pretty obvious if you look up their record in the last few years.
Beyond Gonzaga, Wazzu, and Oregon, Jenkins is considering UCLA, Memphis, and UNLV, where his former head coach at South Dakota State accepted a head coaching job. He also listed South Dakota State in his top seven, but with the offers he's been receiving, I sincerely doubt he stays there.