A vital piece to the biggest recruiting win for Gophers men's basketball in nearly 20 years was Marcus Jenkins, an assistant coach who built relationships to help land five-star center Dennis Evans III.
Gophers coach Ben Johnson credited Jenkins when he introduced his highly touted 2023 class Wednesday, after Evans and four-star Illinois guard Cameron Christie had officially signed.
"It starts with Marcus," Johnson said. "He did a great job building relationships with key people early."
Jenkins is an Air Force graduate who spent three years as a logistics officer at Malmstrom (Mont.) Air Force Base. Throughout his coaching career, he has found ways to connect to players and the people around them, leaning on his military background.
The Gophers will honor Jenkins and others who have served when celebrating Veterans Day during Friday's game against St. Francis Brooklyn at Williams Arena.
Jenkins' father and grandfather served in the Air Force, but he didn't know if he wanted to follow that path until it was the only way he could play Division I basketball.
The Lompoc, Calif., native attended Air Force for sports, but he left with a perspective he has shared throughout his coaching career to help players.
"I hope that they just see it, feel it or experience it from the way I coach them," Jenkins said. "They can lean on me to be a mentor to them and to communicate with them on all the little things I picked up along the way at the academy from a leadership role."
In 2004, Jenkins graduated after playing in Air Force's first NCAA tournament in 42 years. While working at Malmstrom, he coached a high school team in nearby Fairfield, Mont.
Jenkins remembers watching his dad put on a uniform every day to work on base during his childhood, but the son didn't really understand what that meant until he went through it.
"We lived near the base and a bunch of my friends had family in the Air Force, too," Jenkins said. "It was so normal. It didn't truly impact me until [later]."
Jenkins likes to joke that Montana's winters prepared him to live in Minnesota. He met his wife, Melissa, serving in the military, when both were lieutenants at Malmstrom. Her family is from Eden Prairie, and her parents are U graduates.
Veterans Day is a proud day for his entire family, but Jenkins has learned to express to his children and different teams over the years that "putting others before self" is the most important aspect of serving.
"I was 22 years old and a second lieutenant in charge of 40 people mostly older than me," Jenkins said. "That's something that was drilled into you at the academy. I had to put together a plan for others and communicate effectively."
After getting his start as the director of basketball at Richmond under Chris Mooney in 2007, Jenkins' first assistant stint came with Princeton under Mitch Henderson from 2011-15. He returned to Mooney's staff at Richmond for three seasons before Johnson hired him last year on his first Gophers staff.
"When you look at his family, with his wife and dad, you know [they have] a military background and have the discipline and commitment that comes with that," Johnson said. "He's selfless but also driven and hardworking. To be able to have somebody on staff who served and to honor everyone else while playing on that day — we're excited to do it."
The Gophers, who connected with the USS Minnesota's nuclear submarine crew on a video call last week to thank them for their service, will wear shooting shirts Friday with their name.
The excitement over signing Evans won't subside anytime soon, either. Jenkins' California connections helped in first discovering and landing current U freshman guard/forward Jaden Henley, who played with Evans on Elvert "Kool-Aid" Perry's Team Inland AAU team.
Jenkins sharing his background and diligently staying connected with Evans early in the recruiting process helped land the crown jewel of Wednesday's class.
"It took a long time, but he knew we believed in him and were going to help develop him," Jenkins said. "That's what pushed it our way."
