Daniss Jenkins is steady hand in St. John's victory over Providence
Daniss Jenkins of the St. John's Red Storm reacts late in a game against the Providence Friars at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
It was seen as a significant development when Daniss Jenkins declared he would follow Rick Pitino from Iona to St. John’s last spring. It was there for all to see Wednesday night on the floor of Madison Square Garden just how big a deal that really was.
Maybe bigger than anyone imagined.
St. John’s had to get through dangerous waters early in the second half against Providence before it could survive the fraught final two minutes of its 75-73 victory over the Friars and gain its first 4-1 start in Big East play since the 2000-01 season.
When the Storm’s situation changed from comfortable to perilous, Jenkins elevated his game, became the best player on the court and steered them out of trouble and back on course to a 14-point lead, a 14-point lead they would need every bit of during a less than stellar final two minutes when they missed five free throws.
The Red Storm scored the first 10 points of the game, led by as much as 15 in the first half and were up 10 at halftime. Providence returned far more aggressive and Devin Carter took it on a 16-2 run to snatch its first lead, 45-44, on a fast-break layup off a Jordan Dingle turnover with 14:30 to play.
And that’s where Jenkins stepped into the void and gave the Red Storm an answer.
He found Brady Dunlap open for a dunk to retake the lead and a start to a 17-2 run. Jenkins had only three points in the run that put St. John’s up to stay, but he assisted on four baskets for 10 more points. And he threw an entry pass to Zuby Ejiofor on the low block, where he was fouled and made one of two free throws.
Jenkins was asked if the moment called to him and replied, “Most definitely.”
“They were playing very hard around that time and they had a lot of energy,” he added. “I just told the guys, ‘Just take a deep breath because now we’ve got to fight fire with fire.’ It was our turn to attack. That was my mindset.”
His final line: 16 points including 3-for-4 shooting on three-pointers, eight assists, four rebounds and only two turnovers.
“Look at Daniss: with him on the court, he just makes everybody better,” Pitino said. “His assists, [forced] turnovers, his defense, his intelligence. He is a big-time basketball player.”
There have only been a handful of memorable seasons in the past quarter-century for St. John’s basketball, ones where they made the NCAA Tournament. If you’re looking for a common thread among them, it’s that each had a guard who was capable of taking over a game, one who could get his own shot and make it, one who could raise the rest of the team to a higher level in order to win.
Shamorie Ponds, with his penchant for the big play in the clutch, was that player in the 2018-19 season when St. John’s was last good enough to reach the NCAA Tournament. It was smooth-shooting D’Angelo Harrison before that, in 2014-15.
Dwight Hardy probably should have been the 2011 Big East Player of the Year at the end of a season when the Red Storm turned knocking off nationally ranked foes into a near-weekly occurrence. And Marcus Hatten and Erick Barkley were transcendent guards for St. John’s before that.
Understand this is not a rap on Posh Alexander, but during his seasons in Queens, he didn’t make the clutch outside shot consistently like these other five.
Jenkins’ career has traveled an unusual arc. He went to Pacific out of high school and in his second season — when he was becoming the Tigers’ go-to player — they played on 18 games due to COVID-19 outbreaks. He spent a season in junior college before joining Pitino at Iona for last season and helping take the Gaels to the NCAA Tournament as part of a backcourt with Walter Clayton Jr. that Pitino has called “the best backcourts in the nation.”
It has led him to this place now: Jenkins is one of the best players — and perhaps the most essential element — for a first-place team in a power conference.
In the last six games — in five Big East games and the non-conference win over Hofstra — he has scored 96 points and has 37 assists with only 10 turnovers.
“I wouldn’t trade Daniss for any point guard in the country,” Pitino said. “I think he’s going to go on and have a great career after this is over, but I want him to go far.”
Jenkins looks like he can be St. John’s man to do it.
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.
