University of Minnesota Athletics
Jenkins Signs with Gopher Women's Basketball
11/20/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
University of Minnesota head coach Marlene Stollings today announced that 5-foot-6 guard Keyondra "Mercedes" Jenkins has signed a National Letter of Intent to play for the Golden Gophers beginning next season. Jenkins, a transfer from Central Georgia Technical College, chose Minnesota over Arizona, Michigan State and West Viginia.
"Mercedes will bring experience and leadership on the court, and we are thrilled to add her to our Gopher family," Stollings said. "She is a tough, hard-nosed point guard with good quickness, court awareness and basketball IQ. She also has a scorer's mentality and can anticipate well defensively, which will fit well into our system."
As a freshman at Central Georgia Technical College, Jenkins was named to the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association (GCAA) All-Region Second Team after averaging 16.0 points and 4.6 assists per game, while also finishing fourth in the league with 3.0 steals per game. She helped the Lady Titans post a 22-13 overall record, a 16-4 GCAA record and led her team to the semifinals of the conference tournament for the first time in program history.
"I want to thank Coach Stollings and the entire staff at Minnesota for taking an interest in me early on," Jenkins said. "I loved my visit to Minnesota and I loved being able to meet my future Gopher coaches and teammates. You just know when you love being somewhere, and that is what I felt (at Minnesota)."
Jenkins was selected as one of the top-40 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Student-Athletes last season, and was invited to participate in the sixth annual NJCAA Coaches Association All-Star Weekend in Niceville, Fla.
This season, Jenkins had already been named the GCAA Player of the Week and is averaging 15.0 points, 6.0 assists and 4.6 steals per game for the Lady Titans.
"Mercedes has been the face of this program both years she has been here," CGTC Women's head coach Jamie Brooks said. "Everybody else feeds off of her personality and her willingness to buy into what we do, and I just can't say enough good things about Mercedes. I know she will only add to what Coach Stollings and her staff have already built into a great program at Minnesota."
At Fayette County High School, Jenkins earned All-Metro Atlanta Girls Honorable Mention accolades in 2013 from the Atlanta Tipoff Club. She led Fayette County High School to a 21-7 record and to the 2013 Georgia Girls State Basketball Tournament Semifinals.
-UM-
