Transfer Player Spotlight: Chaunce Jenkins (Seton Hall)

Last season Seton Hall won 25 games on the back of great coaching from Shaheen Holloway and their star Kadary Richmond. No Seton Hall team has won more games than last years team in over 30 seasons. While they just barely missed the tournament last season the program took a big step forward and everyone around the program should’ve been very pleased with the outcome. The offseason however to this point has seemed like another step back for the program. The big news of the offseason in the Big East was Seton Hall’s star Kadary Richmond choosing to transfer to conference rival St. John’s. So to combat losing their best player Shaheen Holloway went to the portal as well. Their highest touted transfer was Chaunce Jenkins from Old Dominion. The 6-4 guard averaged 15.9 points a game last season which earned him his second all Sun Belt nod. This upcoming season he should be fighting for one of the starting wing spots on the team or will at the very least be one of the first guys off the bench. Seton Hall is going to have a tough time scoring the ball this season but Chaunce Jenkins could be one of the guys that does just enough to let this defense carry the Pirates to have a successful season.

Chaunce Jenkins has all the talent to be a breakout candidate in the Big East and could be an awesome offensive piece for the Pirates. For much of the year he was the main cog in the Monarch’s offense which was one of the worst in the nation. Which makes Jenkins a very interesting case. He was relatively inefficient last season as he shot just 40% from the field and 32% from three. The question that will determine whether he can be a good Big East player or not is whether his efficiency struggles are a result of his shot selection or the system he was in. Often when a player is on a team that struggles mightily on offense their star players are relied on so heavily they force the issue and take bad shots. Jenkins was no exception to this he forced shots on a regular basis particularly in the deep midrange. Old Dominion last season ranked 302nd in offensive efficiency and surpassed 80 points in a regulation game just once all season. So a lot of the offensive duties fell upon Chaunce Jenkins. If he can cut the bad shots out of his game at Seton Hall he is going to be a good Big East player next season. A lot of those bad shots last season came in the midrange. He loves to get to his midrange pull especially out of the pick and roll. He is really only trying to score off the pick and roll and it is basically only deep twos or occasionally threes. Modern basketball philosophy says that deep twos are the least efficient shot in basketball so Jenkins should be trying to get downhill more out of the pick and roll rather than settling for contested jumpers. Jenkins finishing ability is one of his most underutilized pieces to his game. When he is in space in transition he is an amazing finisher with great athleticism and body control to go along with general craftiness around the rim. Seeing him in an offense that ran effectively in transition could’ve really helped Chaunce as a player but unless Holloway greatly changes his offensive gameplay that is not going to happen. Either way utilizing his slashing abilities more in the half court could really benefit his game and help him become a better all around player. Jenkins is a limited playmaker overall but one area he does relatively excel in is drive and kicks. The problem is he doesn’t drive consistently enough to show this talent to its full extent. He is just overall a good on ball player when the team needs a bucket. His handle is extremely good especially his between the legs size up. That is his go to move what makes it so dangerous is his hesi that he uses to complement that move. It is extremely effective at creating space for him so he can attack the rim or get to a midrange jumper. While he does do a lot of things well on the offensive end he has short comings as well. First and foremost he is basically a nothing as an off ball player. He is not an effective enough shooter to attract crazy amounts of attention and he does almost nothing when it comes to cutting to the ball or towards the rim. This really limits how he can be used within the offense because all of his impact has to come when he has the ball. The other main issue is facing immense defensive pressure. He was almost completely locked down against TCU because they blitzed him off screens and he didn’t adjust which resulted in turnovers and him having an overall bad offensive night. When his overall lack of great decision making is combined with being trapped or blitzed it results in turnovers and bad offense. In the end how Chaunce Jenkins is utilized by Shaheen Holloway will determine his level of impact in the Big East. Jenkins can be a good player is he stays within the offense and uses his talent without forcing the issue. However, if they try to use him as a go to or isolation scorer Jenkins will turn in a very inefficient season and likely so will the rest of Seton Hall.

The backbone of every good Shaheen Holloway team has been their defense. In each of the last three season his teams have ranked inside the top 35 in defensive efficiency. A lot of that has to do with the reputation that Holloway has for getting his players to play with an immense amount of effort on the defensive side of the ball. When Jenkins buys into Holloway’s method of defense he could be a very good defender for the Pirates. As a Monarch very similar to his offensive game Jenkins struggled as an off ball player but was more than competent as an on ball player. His off the ball defense really struggled when he was asked to navigate screens. So actions like a floppy’s he struggled to recover enough to contest the shot. To go along with that he also had just lapses in focus which leads to open players. However, on the ball he was much better. He is good at using his athleticism and length to effect opposing players. When he gets the tenacity that comes with playing for Shaheen Holloway Jenkins could become an impact defender that has the capability to guard some of the best wings in the Big East. Overall Chaunce Jenkins is going to be a quality Big East starter that could help Seton Hall win games but he has to buy into their system first that is the key for him.