Jenkins big part of Buckeyes' title-game run
By JERRY CARINO
STAFF WRITER
You could say it's been a pretty good month for Piscataway High School graduate Malcolm Jenkins.
The Ohio State University junior was named a second-team All-American at cornerback.
His Buckeyes beat arch-rival Michigan 14-3 and got a little help elsewhere to land a spot in college football's national championship game against LSU on Jan. 7.
At the urging of coach Jim Tressel, Jenkins submitted paperwork to the NFL Players Association, which will evaluate his prospects for April's draft.
To top it off, the communication major earned a 3.5 grade-point average for the fall semester.
Simply put, there is no better role model for local athletes who aspire to make it in big-time college athletics than Jenkins.
"You pretty much reap what you sow. I worked hard all the time, even when people are not around," Jenkins said via phone last week. "The things you want to accomplish, you can accomplish."
Jenkins said his time at Piscataway got him ready for the bright lights of Big Ten football. He still talks to former Chiefs coach Larry Lester regularly.
"Winning three state championships in a row, it put me in a position where I know how to win," he said. "I know what it takes to win with the target on your back all the time. That's what it's like at Ohio State. We get everybody's best shot, like we did at Piscataway High School."
On the field before games, it is Jenkins who ignites the Buckeyes' get-psyched ritual. With 100 teammates surrounding him, he removes his helmet and hands it to linebacker James Laurinaitis, who thrusts it into the air. Everyone responds by bouncing up and down, chanting and shouting.
"Malcolm is a guy who's going to find the middle of anything we do," junior receiver Brian Robiskie told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "When we were freshmen, guys were looking around like, "Who is this guy trying to get involved in everything?' But as time's gone on, he's grown into that role."
Jenkins' magnetism is so strong that he convinced seven teammates to compete in track and field in the spring. A former track star at Piscataway, he ran on the Buckeyes' 4x100-meter relay team last year, and loved it as both a training tool and another way to scratch his competitive itch.
Playing big-time college football is practically a full-time job, and here is Jenkins running track on the side and pulling out a 3.5 GPA to boot.
"It's all time-management," he said. "You have to know when to put in time for studying, when to get your social life, when to watch film."
He's got the formula down. This fall he recorded 44 tackles, including five for a loss, while intercepting three passes. He returned one for a touchdown. Opponents generally try to avoid throwing his way.
NFL scouts have taken notice. It's not far-fetched that he could be a first-round draft pick in April.
If that's the evaluation he gets from the NFL Players Association, then Jenkins will have a major decision to make. One thing is certain: It won't be hasty.
"It's just going to be how I feel. I love this university. I'm having the time of my life," he said. "The league will be there. It was here 100 years before me and it will be here 100 years after me. My family is fine financially so money is not a big deal. I'm having fun here. When the time comes, I'll look into it."
