Taking Pride: Speedy key to Jenkins pick

The most anticipated moment of his basketball career turned gut-wrenching for former Hofstra star Charles Jenkins as the NBA draft hit the second round Thursday and he hadn't been picked. "As the time passed, I started to get restless,'' he said. And he thought, "Is this really going to happen?''

With a little help from former Hofstra star Speedy Claxton, it did.

Golden State took the guard with the 44th overall pick, and relief competed with jubilation. "I didn't work out for the Golden State Warriors,'' Jenkins said. "I didn't think that was going to happen. Thank God it did. I had my heart set on getting drafted, so it doesn't matter where you go. I fell to the second round, but I'm not going to complain about it. There's people I know that didn't get called at all.

"I got some great advice from one of the coaches. He said, 'Everybody remembers June 23 just for the day. After that, what matters is what you do on the 24th, 25th and every day after that.' To have an opportunity to be here is great, and I'm going to make the best of it.''

Claxton, a 2000 first-round pick by the 76ers, is a college scout for the Warriors and attended many Hofstra games during Jenkins' career. "Our relationship was more like a friend,'' Jenkins said. "When he gave me advice, I didn't think about possibly having an opportunity to play for the Golden State Warriors. I was thinking of it as a Hofstra alum looking out for one of the younger guys. He's been around me since I was a freshman. He watched me grow as a player. I didn't think he paid that much attention -- until after [Thursday] night.''

Claxton was not available for comment.

New Warriors coach Mark Jackson played for St. John's and the Knicks. "A lot of people question my ability to play point guard,'' Jenkins said. "Who better to learn from, being a New York guy?''