Daniss Jenkins follows Pitino to St. John's as grad transfer

NEW YORK (AP) — Guard Daniss Jenkins is following coach Rick Pitino from Iona to St. John’s and joining the Red Storm program as a graduate transfer.

St. John's announced the signing of the Dallas native on Friday. It's the first since Pitino was hired last month by the Big East Conference school to rebuild a once-proud program.

“Daniss Jenkins is a lightning quick guard who is a tremendous leader on and off the court,” Pitino said in a statement. “He is someone we will rely on heavily to lead us into next season.”

Jenkins was the only Iona player to start all 35 games this past season, helping the Gaels win the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference regular season and tournament titles and make the NCAA Tournament. Iona was beaten in the opening round by eventual national champion UConn.

The 6-foot-4 guard averaged 15.6 points and 4.9 assists, which led the MAAC and ranked top-50 in Division I.

This will be the fourth college for Jenkins. He played his first two seasons at the University of the Pacific, the 2021-22 campaign at Odessa College and last season at Iona.

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