Prospect Profile

Strengths:
*Deadly jump shooter
*Quick release
*Crafty scorer around the rim
*Very good free-throw shooter

Weaknesses:
*Needs to improve ball handling
*Could become a better passer
*Not an overwhelming athlete
*Doesn’t have prototypical NBA shooting guard size

NBA projection:
Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings solicited feedback from the NBA, and opinions were mixed about whether Jenkins would be a late first-round or early second-round pick. So in some ways, Jenkins gambled by coming out of school after his junior season. But he’s a big-time, game-breaking shooter, and the NBA needs shooters. The question will be whether he can get find his own shot.

2011-12 Season:
Jenkins led the Southeastern Conference in scoring for the second consecutive season, becoming the first player since LSU’s Ronnie Henderson in 1995-96 to do so. He made 134 3-pointers as a junior, which tied the SEC single-season record set by former Vanderbilt star Shan Foster. Jenkins was also a first-team All-SEC selection.

Key statistics:
19.9 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.2 apg, 1.6 tpg, 0.8 spg, 33.6 mpg, .474 FG, .439 3PT, .837 FT

Cool statistic:
Even though every team’s scouting report focused on stopping Jenkins, he managed to score in double figures in his last 68 games and make a 3-pointer in his last 60 games. Jenkins failed to make at least one 3 in only four of his 98 career games.

Reminds me of:
J.J. Redick

What Insiders Say:
Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings
“His defense is 100 percent better. He's a very dependable defensive player for us now. John has really given us so much more than he gave us a year ago — leadership, talking, energy. He's not a guy that's just running around out here trying to figure out where his next shot comes from.
“Obviously the thing that stands out to anyone is what a terrific shooter he is. But he’s better off the dribble. He’s becoming an assists guy. He’s really given us so much more than he did a year ago. He’s trying to lead the team and play the game the way it should be played.”

What Outsiders Say:
Georgia coach Mark Fox
"He is the greatest shooter that I have ever coached against. He's the kind of player that you just cannot make any mistakes against or he'll make you pay."
 

-- Profile by Chris Dortch, editor of the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook. Follow him @cdortch.