When Vanderbilt basketball fans think of shooters, a few names come to mind - Scott Draud, Barry Booker, Drew Maddux, Ronnie McMahan, Shan Foster - but there's one name that registers with Commodore supporters that some say may be the best one of them all - John Jenkins.
Jenkins, who declared for the NBA Draft after his junior season in April, had a stellar career with the Commodores and left as one of Vanderbilt's most decorated players of all time. He led the SEC in scoring for the last two seasons, the first time since 1995 and 1996 that has happened, while also pacing the nation in threes made in his junior season with nearly four per game. His selection to back-to-back All-SEC first teams was also the first for a Commodore since Billy McCaffrey was named to the 1993 and 1994 first teams.
But more than that, it was the excitement he brought to Memorial Gym every time the Hendersonville native touched the ball - because to everyone in attendance, every time he shot it, we thought it was going in. Every. Time. As Kevin Harlan of CBS so eloquently put it in the 2011 Kentucky game at Memorial, he was indeed a "flamethrower."
Check out the career highlight video and the accompanying photo gallery of his three outstanding years in the Black and Gold. And also tune in to ESPN Thursday at 6 p.m. CT for the NBA Draft to see where Jenkins and the other Commodores, Festus Ezeli and Jeffery Taylor, will fulfill their lifelong dreams.
