AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - August 4, 2004 - Detroit Pistons President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars announced today that the club has signed guard Horace Jenkins to a contract. Per team policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed.
“We are happy to sign Horace Jenkins to a contract,” said Dumars. “We feel that Horace is a player that can contribute for us next season at the guard position. He has gained valuable experience playing in Europe over the last three years and we look forward to having him on the roster.”
Jenkins played on the Pistons summer league team that competed at the Minnesota Summer League in July and averaged 8.2 points, 2.8 assists and 18.4 minutes in five games. Undrafted out of William Patterson in 2001, Jenkins spent the last three seasons playing in Europe with Aironi Novara (2001-02), Vurtis Roma (2002-03) and AEK Athens (2003-04). In 12 games with AEK Athens he averaged 20.0 points, 3.3 assists, 1.8 rebounds and 1.83 steals in 33.8 minutes.
The 6-foot-1 point guard was a three-time NABC Division III National Player of the Year and three-time NABC Division III All-America selection in 1999, 2000 and 2001. At William Patterson, Jenkins holds school records in scoring (1,940 points), single-season scoring average (27.1 ppg), single-season total points (841), most free throws made in a season (257) and most free throws made in one game (20). As a senior, he led the New Jersey Athletic Conference and ranked third nationally in scoring (27.1 ppg) and steals (120). In three seasons at William Patterson, Jenkins averaged 23.7 points and 3.8 assists in 82 games.