Daniss Jenkins will be St. John's point guard and leader
St. John's point guard Daniss Jenkins shoots during practice on Tuesday at Carnesecca Arena. Credit: Errol Anderson
Battles are still being waged for spots in the starting lineup for Rick Pitino’s Red Storm, but the point guard spot is Daniss Jenkins’ to lose. The 6-4 graduate transfer was Pitino’s starting point guard at Iona last season and one of the biggest reasons the Gaels reached the NCAA Tournament.
His decision to follow Pitino to St. John’s is an essential part of the plan for the 2023-24 season for a couple reasons.
One is his role on the court as a playmaker because, as Pitino said, “We have 14 players now learning completely new offensive and defensive systems with the exception of the three Iona players.”
“We already see that [Jenkins] knows all the plays and where everyone is supposed to be,” Penn transfer and Valley Stream product Jordan Dingle said. “Having that at point guard helps.”
“It’s a really talented group and you can tell this is going to be a good team,” Jenkins said.
When asked about the significance of Jenkins, Cruz Davis and Sadiku Ibine Ayo transferring from Iona, Pitino replied “it was really, really important to bring Daniss because Daniss is the one that gets 12 assists and only three turnovers.”
“He’s the one that makes people better,” Pitino said. “There's nobody on the team right now that makes people better except Daniss and all the pro scouts have liked him because he makes people better. Once the other guys make people better, then we're going to have a really good team.”
Jenkins started all 35 games for the Gaels (27-8) last season and averaged 15.6 points and 4.9 assists. He finished with 78 turnovers to his 173 assists.
And Jenkins has the wisdom to speak player-to-player about the results that come when players buy in to Pitino’s methods and style.
“Coach P. is going to take all of us where we want to go,” Jenkins said. “He will make [players] better individually and he will make them better team players. They can believe me. I’ve seen it first-hand.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
