LINCOLN — Daniel Jenkins hadn’t played in a basketball game for Beatrice High all season.

Then he scored nine points Thursday as Beatrice rallied to beat Lincoln Pius X. Then he scored 18 in the Orangemen’s 46-43 loss to Omaha Skutt Friday.

So who’s the new guy, and where’d he come from?

That was a subject of controversy the past few days in Class B.

Criticism centered on coach Jim Weeks, one of the most successful coaches in Nebraska. Many people told Weeks his transfer shouldn’t participate because he showed up just in time for the state tournament.

“What would you do,” Weeks said, “if all your kids said you should play him to help us win?

“These are the guys that matter. It doesn’t matter what the barber downtown thinks. These are the guys that wanted him to play. It’s not like he’s an All-American who scored 40. The kid contributed.”

Jenkins, a 6-foot-3 senior, played as a sophomore and junior in Greenville, Ky. Last summer, Jenkins’ mom moved to Beatrice to work at the hospital.

Jenkins moved instead to Independence, where he’d spent much of his childhood. He moved in with a family friend.

He was ineligible until Jan. 18, an official at his Kansas high school said. Then he played for Independence until Feb. 19.

That’s when he moved to Beatrice to reconnect with his mother and little brother. The reason: a conflict with the family friend he lived with, he said.

Jenkins was immediately eligible by his move into the Beatrice district, according to NSAA bylaws.

The only thing that would’ve made him ineligible was if his old school had already completed its season. But Independence High was still playing.

On Feb. 22, the Beatrice administration informed Weeks that a new student had arrived. Weeks said he had never seen Jenkins until he showed up three weeks ago.

“I didn’t know if he was 300 pounds or 80 pounds,” Weeks said. “We didn’t even know where he was from.”

Jenkins joined the team, got a physical and waited a few days to practice. He didn’t play in districts, March 1-2.

After the district tournament, Weeks put a tablet in front of the players. You guys discuss it, Weeks told them. If you want him to play, everybody sign the tablet. They signed.

Then Weeks met with each player. He warned players they might lose playing time because of Jenkins’ addition. Each gave him the OK. That’s the real story, Weeks said.

“Not one kid bellyached about it.”

Still, Weeks acknowledged he was afraid how the Jenkins situation would be perceived. But basketball is about winning games and learning life lessons, Weeks said.

A “kid of color,” Weeks said, showed up in a town where blacks are rare, treated everyone respectfully, worked hard in practice and wanted to help Beatrice win. And the regular players welcomed him.

“They will learn a lot out of that,” Weeks said. “I think that’s an incredible story, I really do.”

But Jenkins was a hot topic at the Devaney Center and Pershing Center, especially after the Orangemen clipped rival Pius X. “We wouldn’t have won without him,” Weeks said.

The uproar caught Jenkins by surprise.

“I do want to say that I never talked to Weeks at all about coming down here. I do want to say that, because that makes him look bad.”

Weeks sees the controversy pretty clearly: A kid moved to Beatrice. He wanted to play basketball. His soon-to-be teammates wanted him to play, too.

“What am I going to do?” Weeks said. “Not teach him?”

Biggs is big-time

Until Friday night, I would’ve said the star power in Nebraska lies below Class A.

In Class B, sophomore Mike Gesell of South Sioux City resembles another versatile guard from the Sioux City area, Kirk Hinrich. Ralston’s Dwight Smith is headed to Colorado State.

In Class C-1, Zach Sterup and Elliott Eliason are Division I-caliber big men. In Class D-2, Austin Kaczor just moved into the state’s all-time top 10 in scoring.

But none touches the talent of Deverell Biggs. Central’s flamboyant guard beat Lincoln Southeast all by himself in a semifinal thriller.

His performance might be the best on the Devaney Center floor since Andy Woolridge erupted for 50 in the 1992 state final.

Biggs hasn’t always played so well. In fact, he’s played poorly at times his senior year. But when he’s on, he’s unstoppable.

“He’s shooting NBA 3s,” Southeast coach Jeff Smith said. “If you get up on him, he’s going around you.”

Can he do it again? And what about Norfolk?

Every possession of the Panther-Prep duel carried with it a heavy dose of intensity. Rebounding to play 24 hours later won’t be easy for the No. 1 team.

The championship will be a fascinating contrast in styles, one of the more compelling Class A finales in a long while.

Central, Class A’s largest school, had better guard Jalen Bradley, who buried six 3s in the first half Friday. Norfolk, the third-smallest school in A, must find a way to corral Biggs, who hit six 3s, too.

Hopefully, each school can recapture the magic it presented Friday. State tourney basketball doesn’t get any better.

Contact the writer:

649-1461, dirk.chatelain@owh.com

« High Schools

Share