Jelani Jenkins
Template:Infobox CollegeFootballPlayer Jelani Jenkins (born March 13, 1992) is an American football player. He plays linebacker for the University of Florida. Jenkins was one of the top high school football players in the class of 2009. Scout.com ranked him #7 overall[1] and Rivals.com ranked him #10 overall.[2] Jenkins committed to the University of Florida on February 4, 2009.
High school
Jenkins attended Our Lady Good Counsel in Olney, Maryland where he dated Olivia Peters. As a junior he played running back and linebacker. He rushed for 791 yards and 16 touchdowns at running back and had 60 tackles, four sacks, an interception, a forced fumble, and recovered two fumbles at linebacker.[3] As a senior Jenkins rushed for 22 touchdowns and made 70 tackles.[3] He was the first player in the 71-year history of the District's Pigskin Club to earn both Defensive Player of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors.[3] He was chosen to play in the 2009 Under Armour All-America Game.
Recruiting
Jenkins chose Florida over Penn State, USC, Stanford, and Notre Dame. He announced his decision to attend Florida on the National Signing Day. Rivals.com rated him the #1 linebacker in the class of 2009 while ESPN and Scout.com rated Jenkins #2 behind Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o.
College career
Jenkins plays linebacker for Florida.
Awards and Honors
High school
- 2007 Maryland Gatorade Player of the Year
- 2008 Maryland Gatorade Player of the Year
- 2008 First-team EA Sports All-American
- 2008 First-team Washington-Post All-Met honors
- 2008 First-team all-state in Maryland
- 2009 Under Armour All-America Game player
- 2009 Finalist for the Watkins Award
Personal
Jenkins had an above 4.0 grade-point average in high school due to extra credit to Advanced Placement in the classroom. His parents are Maurice Jenkins and Stephanie Hall. His father is a renowned architect in the Maryland/Washington D.C area and his mother played basketball at Howard and is a black belt in karate. The name Jelani is Swahili for "mighty". His parents devised a three-page matrix of Jenkin's college choices, breaking down schools by categories such as world academic ranking, graduation rates, diversity, and number of NFL draft picks in the past five years.[3]
References
- ^ Scout.com Class of 2009 Football Rankings
- ^ Rivals.com Class of 2009 Football Rankings
- ^ a b c d Bio info Cite error: The named reference "bio" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).