By Ed Morrone
While Loren Stokes and Carlos Rivera were accounting for 34 points per game for the Hofstra offense last season, Charles Jenkins patiently waited his turn. Memo to Jenkins: it’s time.
With Stokes and Rivera, two-thirds of Hofstra’s “Big Three” from last year gone to graduation, Tom Pecora has the not-so-enviable task of replacing the giant offense and leadership voids their absence thrusts onto the program. While Antoine Agudio figures to fill much of that void, he can’t do it alone. Which is where Jenkins figures to come into the equation.
The Hofstra coaching staff redshirted the 6-3, 220-pound guard from Queens last year knowing he wouldn’t have cracked the backcourt rotation. Now, with a lot of practice time under his belt, Jenkins is ready to help fill the significant void left by Stokes and Rivera.
“It [the redshirt] gave me a lot of time to work on my game,” Jenkins said. “I worked on my jump shot almost every day, but I want to be able to create for my teammates as well and I expect to do good this year.”
If the exhibition game against Northwood University on Nov. 1 indicates anything, it’s that Jenkins will be able to come in and contribute almost right away. After Agudio, he was the most aggressive and effective player on offense, scoring 17 points on 7-for-12 shooting in 26 minutes. Jenkins showed the ability to knock down a mid-range jump shot as well as being able to drive into the lane, both strong qualities of Stokes. If anything, he looks like he belongs out there, and that’s saying something.
“His weakness is his jump shot, and he’s worked on that a lot,” Agudio said. “When he’s open, he’s making good decisions that will definitely help us out in the long run.”
This is not to say Jenkins is going to step right in and make people forget about Stokes and Rivera, which is no fault of his own. It would take a Carmelo Anthony/Kevin Durant-esque freshman to make fans block all that Stokes and Rivera did for the program out of their memories. But what Jenkins can do is step up and lead a supporting cast that Hofstra lacked last year, which has Pecora very excited.
“Offensively, he does a very good job in mixing up mid-range jumpers and taking the ball to the rim,” Pecora said. “He’s such a powerful young guy and as his perimeter game improves he’s going to develop into a very good player.”
Jenkins has raved about the team Pecora has placed around him, most notably singling out Agudio as a mentor on and off the court.
“Antoine has taught me everything that I need to know coming into this season,” Jenkins said. “Him being here is going to help the young guys out so much because he’s been in those late-game situations that we haven’t seen yet.”
Of course Jenkins will be the first to admit he’s got a lot to work on before he is the kind of fixture that Stokes and Rivera were in the Hofstra offense.
“For me, I just have to be more patient, because against Northwood I didn’t really know what to do,” Jenkins says with a laugh. “I was so anxious, but if I calm down and come ready to play, I should be fine.”
The Hofstra fans that are still longing for Stokes and Rivera sure hope so and make no mistake about it, they have sent their memo to Jenkins: his patience has paid off, and now it is his time.