Can't Stop Me | Story of Kendall Jenkins

[beast10]

Re: Can't Stop Me | Story of Kendall Jenkins




June 12th, 2015 - Forewarning

---

“Rise and shine, kid.” Coach Austin flickers the lights on and off as Kendall flops from side to side on the bed trying to avoid the shine. “Come on get up, you told me you wanted to be ready for the NCAA. This is what it takes.”

Kendall finally rises out of the bed and checks his phone to see that it’s 4:45 in the morning. He takes a long yawn and the two get ready to go to the gym. This was the seventh day he’d been staying at Coach Austin’s house living alongside of his small family. It all started when Kendall first arrived a couple days ago and he snapped at his mom after she started her nagging him. Kendall knew by now his mom was very strict and sometimes even bipolar but when she told him to get out the car and pulled off, Kendall was a little surprised.

He took it how it was, expecting she’d come back for him within two minutes but she didn’t. Instead Kendall stood helplessly before he walked into the Walmart which he was left in front of. Coincidentally he found his former assistant coach from Mojave; Richard Austin.

Of course, Coach Austin was surprised to see Kendall after losing contact of one of his favorite players for over five months but the two caught up and Kendall told him about his newly found situation. He offered him a room for him in his house until he could work things back out with his mom and Kendall agreed.

His mom would go on to call and apologize about an hour later but Kendall explained that it was fine and that he found somewhere to stay for the time being. Ever since then, Coach had been working Kendall trying to get him better before he took off for college in about a month.

“This is the jab series; if you master the first step at any level of basketball you’ll be dominant.” Richard goes through the motions for an example before Kendall received the ball. “Ten reps of the five variations, go.”

Kendall built a sweat as he prevailed through the drills he was directed through for a good three hours. Being a good player, he never felt he needed to try as hard but Coach Austin really pushed him and it was the hardest he’d worked in a very long time.

When it was all over Kendall remained to stay low at the Austin’s residence just outside Las Vegas. Later on throughout the day he got a call from Ant who must’ve been returning the call from a couple of days ago.

Kendall answered happy to here from his friend he hadn't talked to in a while, "Hello?"

“Yo, what do you want?” He replied in an angered tone.

“You need to work on your introductions, for real.”

“Shut the **** up,” he barked. “You ruined everything around here. You got Daryl killed, Vibe killed. You a ****ing bogus bitch! Don’t even call this number again! The Vice is gone now, Rollerz took over everything.”

"What? Daryl told me to lea-"

And with that, the line was dropped as Kendall sat there trying to take in how one of his old best friends just cursed him out like that. Things would only get worst from there.

[beast10]

Re: Can't Stop Me | Story of Kendall Jenkins




Kendall Jenkins Names Top Three

By Bob Leeway , Featured Columnist Jun 14, 2015

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Although being lightly recruited, one of the more intriguing athletes in the uprising of college basketball is bound to be three star recruit Kendall Jenkins.

The 6’8”, 200-pounder from Mojave High School in North Las Vegas has narrowed his list down to three schools; Pac-10's California, Mountain West's UNLV, and the Big Sky's Northern Colorado.

Jenkins, who has reportedly been out of the organized game since December of last year is still known as a freakish athlete capable of playing the 2-4 on the court.

But which school will he choose?

Let’s take a look at each of his top three schools and break down his fit at each program.


California



With returning talent Jabari Bird and Jordan Matthews coming back for their junior and senior season Jenkins won't be guaranteed that starting spot.

Bird went for 16 PPG last season as a sophomore while Matthew tallied just over 9. Jenkins would find himself as either a role player behind the duo or if he's able to beef up he might be able to find his niche at power forward noting that the Bear's best PF listing is Christian Behren who is coming into the season after a down year scoring the ball at a poor 33% as a big.

Either way with hard work Jenkins could find himself as a big contributor for the California team. If Jabari Bird decides to turn pro following this season I'd think the position would be handed right to him.

UNLV



UNLV snagged an awesome recruiting class this off-season, bringing in three players from the ESPN Top-100. Their top player is D.J. Northcutt, the 23rd overall player and fifth best shooting guard on the rankings. Second is another shooting guard, #32 Darius Hancock, coming out of Nevada, Hancock was Mr. Basketball, a title Jenkins would've battled for had he stayed in his hometown. Finally is power forward J.D. Kennedy who ranks at #44 in the country.

Point is, UNLV has some young talent that Kendall would mesh perfectly into. The team appears contently stacked as they bring back returning sophomore Rashad Vaughn who had a great freshman campaign, scoring 12.5 points a game complimented with 5.5 rebounds. The Rebels also return juniors PG Kendall Smith and PF Christian Wood, and C sophomore Goodluck Okonoboh, all players who contributed over 7 points a night.

Kendall would definitely have some outshining to do to find himself ahead of the competition but with his underrated skillset it's definitely possible.

Northern Colorado



The dark horse of the list comes out as Northern Colorado. At 10-17, the team is the only losing team on Kendall's list. The roster graduated most of its talent but still remaining is point guard and shooting threat Tevin Svihovec. The now junior had an exceptional sophomore year, scoring about 11 points per game and adding 4 assists.

At the same position as Jenkins, senior Tim Huskisson is another returning starter. The 6'5" forward posted descent stats, 7 PPG, and chiming a steal in on defense. Fellow senior Dominique Lee joins this list as well, registering just over 25 minutes a game, Lee provided good rebounding presence and the occasional bucket for UNC.

Outside of these three the Bear's roster is pretty bland, mostly consisting of inexperience or players who just haven't made any notable contributions to the team. Therefor, Jenkins has a clear path into the starting lineup at this route.

Where will Kendall Jenkins Commit

California UNLV Northern Colorado  

pollcode.com free polls

[KingofKings1212]

Re: Can't Stop Me | Story of Kendall Jenkins

I say UNLV OR Cal

[beast10]

Re: Can't Stop Me | Story of Kendall Jenkins




June 16th, 2015 - The Announcement

---

Today was the day, Kendall was reserved rights to the Mojave gymnasium to make his announcement public to the world. Some local news stations were going to be there to capture the moment.

He'd been a little down ever since the phone call from Anthony, it didn't hurt his feelings or anything but when he came back into town he mostly looked forward to reconnecting with his true friends but that didn't seem to be happening because they were all turned on him. He assumed today would be good because he'd at least be able to get all the college stuff off his mind.

He dressed properly in a short sleeve polo and cargo shorts. He thought he looked like we was going golfing but just said whatever to it.

"Let's go, media's arriving in thirty minutes." Richard told to Kendall as he stood looking in the mirror while shifting his collar.

The family and Kendall all headed out to the car and before they arrived at the school Richard asked him what was his decision going to be, Kendall responded saying he didn't actually know. His mom and Trent met them there and were joined by what seemed to be over one hundred spectators. Before the event began, Kendall chatted with some of former peers and teammates he recognized in the crowd.

Mr. Givens took the microphone at center court and began, "Welcome Mojave community, today we have an usual yet very humbled event today as we host Kendall Jenkins' college announcement. I mention unusual only because Kendall did not finish his senior year here at Mojave, he migrated to St. Louis just before the New Years. But now, he's back and we're thrilled to have him because family never dismantles! Just if you don't know much about Kendall I'll give you some insight, Kendall was a four year varsity member for our Falcons and contributed well each of those years. In his short span with us in his senior year he showed why we was a Division-1 athlete, averaging over 25 points and 8 rebounds. Before I go on about his achievements I'll give him his spotlight."

Kendall picked up the microphone and got butterflies within his stomach as he tried to figure out what school he'd be saying.

"Thanks Mr. Givens, I really appreciate you for allowing me this opportunity to be here back in front of my friends and what I considered family. If I could've I definitely would've tried to stay here at Mojave. It really hurt to just leave the team at such an important part of the season but of course I was relieved to know y'all did well without me, I knew they could. Before I make my announcement I'd like to say thanks to a couple of those who helped me get here; first my mom of course, always providing the support I needed, money didn't come easy but she got me in plenty of things that helped me throughout my path to where I am today, I truly love her and thank her for that. Also my little brother Trent, sadly he doesn't play ball but he's got a serious dedication to the piano, that dedication inspired me to push it to the limit when it came to basketball... Next is boy Daryl who would've graduated this year but now is watching over in Heaven..." Kendall paused for a moment before picking up where he left off.

"Also Coach Austin for always being there for me on and off the court, uh, all the other coaches who've been in my life including Coach Moore, my AAU coach. All my friends and fans who came out to support us on game days and what not... There's a lot more thanks I'd like to give out but I know that's not what you're all here for so I'll stop there."

The crowd cheers, Kendall glances through all the stands, the faces and looks down at the table.

"Now for my decision," Kendall stumbles on this part nervously, he still acts as if he was ready to announce where he'd be playing at. "I've been thinking a lot over the last couple of weeks, I personally believe I should've had a wider variety of scholarships but I'm going to take it how it is. I will be playing basketball at the University of North Caroli-, I mean Northern Colorado."

Kendall hears the people snickering 'what?' before their only routine applause and even himself questions what he just did. The reporters begin raising their hands with questions. Coach Austin points out to a female reporter from a local Vegas news station.

"So what made you make this decision? It was almost unexpected to say the least."

He thinks for a second and says, "I visited the school back in my junior year and really felt at home. The coaches really respected me and what I said... They have a basketball team that is a work in progress but I like to have a challenge so here's one of them."

Richard pointed out to another reporter, this time a male from Fox.

"To my understanding, Northern Colorado has never produced an NBA prospect in all it's years in existence. Does this in any way affect you and your basketball dreams?"

"No, I can simply be the first one. I've accomplished a lot in high school so I don't see why I won't on the college level."

And another one.

"How will you go about not winning as many games as you might have been use to during your high school tenure?"

"Well assuming we're not going to win a lot is not what I'm thinking of. That's very negative, no one knows how we'll do. It depends on what kind of effort he put during this season." Kendall sternly stated.

Kendall continued answering questions before time ran out and the event was over. Everybody was shocked, mom wanted Kendall to go to UNLV and stay close, Coach Austin lured him into California where he'd be able to devlop in a power conference, and all the others assumed California by default for obvious reasons.

[beast10]

Re: Can't Stop Me | Story of Kendall Jenkins

For the recruits signed up in http://www.operationsports.com/forum...e-recruit.html , I will probably be doing a blog type of post that follows them through their careers.

[TheBusinessHarp]

Re: Can't Stop Me | Story of Kendall Jenkins

Is it too late to make a recruit?

[beast10]

Re: Can't Stop Me | Story of Kendall Jenkins

Is it too late to make a recruit?

Nah, the recruit will just appear the next year or whatever you have as its graduating class

[beast10]

Re: Can't Stop Me | Story of Kendall Jenkins




The Recruits Shaping the Future: Volume 1
June 16th, 2015

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Welcome to the Recruits Shaping the Future series, here I'll follow a list of basketblal prospects including Dontae Brown, Kane Herren, Thomas Kousa, Nuka Seyde, Damon Wright, Harry Fredhman, Cole Campbell, and Stone Harper. Currently, we're in the college basketball off-season and tons of prep prospects are making their college decisions. Below I'll give some insight on how the selected players are doing...

Dontae' Brown – Oregon

The high school All-American Donte’ Brown is officially an Oregon Duck after making the announcement via twitter a couple weeks back. Donte' had great success with his Brooklyn high school team after leading them to the New York state championship right before winning Mr. Basketball honors. Brown was ranked number 10 in the nation by ESPN, at small forward he has a dangerous all-around game that’ll get him some big time minutes for the Ducks during his freshman season.

Kane Herren – Undecided

At 5’7 you can already assume Kane Herren has heard that phrase ‘your too short for basketball’. The junior however puts that on the back burner and continues with his legacy in the city of Fall River in Massachusetts. Herren says he has letters from Saint Josephs, Harvard, Boston, Hinsdale, and Central Connecticut State. As of now Herren is playing basketball with the BABC (Boston Amateur Basketball Club) EYBL team where he's averaging just under 9 points and 4 assists.

Thomas Kousa - Undecided

Thomas Kousa is more of a lowkey name in the prospect bank. Out of Finland, the guard ranks as a three star prospect but has yet to receive college interests.

Nuka Seyde – Temple

Much like Herren, Seyde is short. Not short in terms of basketball but at 6’4 he’s expected to play power forward at the collegiate level. Seyde says he’s ready for it, “I played power forward and center for my high school because we weren’t very tall but I liked it … All my trainers tried to lure me into training as a two guard but I didn’t really want to. I like blocking shots, slamming on defenders, I just like being the bigman.” Nuka is one of the four freshman named to Temple’s roster and will battle for playing time with four other power forwards but with no centers listed on the roster there is definitely an opening for the big out of Ottawa.

Damon Wright – Rutgers

Damon Wright kind of shocked the recruiting world when he committed to the University of Rutgers. Sure it’s a power conference school but Wright had interests from plenty of other schools that are simply much better than the struggling Rutgers program. It’s highly likely that he’ll get the nod as a starter in his freshman season for the Scarlet Knights. Wright joined Donte’ Brown on the East McDonald All-American team where he had 8 points.

Harry Fredman – Duke

At 7’1 and 300 pounds, Harry Fredman was the number one high school prospect in America. The center dominated the preps, averaging 28 points, 22 rebounds, and 7 blocks a game for Lincoln High School right after lighting the Nike EYBL on fire. Fredman had plenty of offers he dealt with before making his decision to attend Duke. Being called “the next great center” it’s likely he’ll carry that name to the campus and leave for the NBA the following year.

Cole Campbell – Notre Dame

Notre Dame snagged Cole Campbell, a five star recruit out of Chicago. Campbell excels at driving through the lane and if that fails he’s got a midrange game to fall back on that’ll torture his defenders. When asked about how he felt he’d fit in for the Irish, Cole said, “I’ve watched Notre Dame all my life. I really know how their system works and I’m willing to make any changes needed to succeed under Coach Brey.” Campbell appears as a legitimate team player that’ll likely be a great four year guard for Notre Dame.

Stone Harper - Undecided
An ESPN top 60 recruit coming out of Reno, Stone Harper is already known as one of the best to ever come out of the city. Stone's high school coach said Stone was "an all-around player that didn't stop at his point guard boundaries." He does a little bit of everything but truely makes his name unfrogtteable when it comes down to his deadly three point abilities. Stone has not yet announced his commitment nor a top 3, he's dwelling on the most appealing offers from Cal, UNLV, San Diego State, Arizona, USC, and UCLA.

[beast10]

Re: Can't Stop Me | Story of Kendall Jenkins




June 20th, 2015 - Trouble Awaits
This piece is written in the point of view of LJ, the Vice gang leader... This was something BraedenG33 used a lot so credit to him.

---

That kid Kendall quite frankly ruined everything for us on the streets, he bailed and the tables turned. I somewhat respected him for not turning on us and shooting me but when he left things just went crazy and I couldn’t forgive him anymore. For all the things that happened, to be honest; he might as well have shot me… The Vice were completely done, not literally but we didn’t run anything anymore. We went from controlling the east side streets to nothing. The Rollerz were shooting our boys like it was nothing and before I sold out to them, being the leader, I was the main target.

Now that Kendall was back in the town I was working with the Rollerz to try to pop him so I could just out of this stuff; maybe move to California and start a family or something. I was going through the mid life crisis... I was all about the streets when I was younger only because I didn’t have anything else to fall back on but now I was older and more mature I didn’t see why I put up with this ****… I wanted to live right, make my money how it was supposed to me done.

“So I got this plan all worked out.” Ace concluded as we sat in his Suburban truck along with a couple of his boys.

“Alright, explain it, I’ll get it done. You already know that.” I proclaimed.

“We going to take the simple route. I want you to try and find that boy Kendall… I heard he staying with a coach or something, that’s why he ain’t been around the house, I don’t really know exactly where but you can find out easily. So yeah, find him, explain to him how everything has fallen apart and offer to help him while he’s around. When you get his trust bring him back over here and we’ll take care of things. You got it?”

“Yeah that sound easy enough. I'll get it done ASAP."

“Aight, then you better not **** nothing up or you’ll be the dead one,” A.C. declared. “Now get out of my truck.”

[beast10]

Re: Can't Stop Me | Story of Kendall Jenkins

Sorry that the storyline has been off the court for a while now lol, trying to steer it back as best as I can.

[beast10]

Re: Can't Stop Me | Story of Kendall Jenkins




June 26th, 2015 - Two Times!

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Kendall had finally connected back with Holly after trying to somewhat of avoid her while he was here. The only other time he’d seen her was at Mojave when he signed last week and they only talked briefly because Kendall had planned to go out to eat with his family and the Austins to celebrate.

Today they were headed to the hospital after the doctors had requested that Holly come in for another ultrasound after some confusion on whether or not she was carrying two babies opposed to the sought of one.

As Kendall drove Holly asked, “So what if I do end up having twins? Will you be there for them?”

“How many times do I have to say yes?” Kendall snapped. “It’s getting kinda annoying, if I say something I mean it. I’ll be there for you and the kids. I don’t care if it’s twins or not…”

“I’m just wondering, you always claim there’s nothing between us so I’m thinking maybe you don’t even want to be around me.”

“There’s not, you’re like obsessed with me. You ruined my relationship with my girl in St. Louis telling her all sorts of lies about how we were still dating and all that stuff. I don’t really care about it now but that wasn’t cool, you lied for real.”

“Sorry,” she muttered. “It’s just that I like you a lot but I guess I ruined my chances.”

“Yeah whatever, we’re going to college in two different states anyway. Now that I think about it, how you even gonna raise this kid?”

“I’m not going to college anymore; my parents got mad and told me to take care of them myself… I’m going to have to get my own place pretty soon then I'm just going to end up taking online classes I guess, sucks when I could’ve been going to Stanford this fall but what happens happens, you know?

For once in a long time, Kendall actually felt sympathy for her. He didn’t even know she had to make that choice. She’d always been about her books and was no doubt probably ruled most likely to succeed in the school yearbooks; to see her not attending college and also with her own kid was bound to be a shocker for all her former classmates. Kendall consoled her until they got to the hospital; he realized he’d just about ruined her life.

“Yeah there’s definitely another one in there,” the middle-aged blonde nurse said while analyzing the screen. “Congratulations, you’re having twins!”

Holly laughed and clapped which surprised Kendall, he did the same but didn't really mean too much of it.





June 28th, 2015 - Basketball Buddies

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One of Kendall's old AAU teammate Stone Harper had just got in town from Reno and one of the first people he called was Kendall. Those two never spent much time apart during the summer AAU season but when the school year came around they didn’t have much contact with their living distances being over six hours apart. Kendall always joked around and called Stone “White Mike” because he was simply a helluva basketball player and happened to be white.

“So look who it is,” Kendall taunts when he meets Stone at a community gym. “White Mike, the dude who’ll forever think he can beat me.”

“Man, long time no see,” Stone goes in for a hand shake. “But before I get to anything, I heard you signed with Northern Colorado a few weeks ago, may I ask if you have a mental disorder or something?”

Kendall laughed in shame, “To be honest I don’t know why I did that. I just wanted to play right away and that was really my best option in that situation. The more I think about it the more I wished I chose California...”

“Yeah cause that “play” your gonna get is not going to attract ANY NBA scouts who give a damn,” he chuckles. “You signed the letter of intent yet?”

“Yeah I signed it but shut up, I didn’t really think it out,” Kendall grabs his kicks out his backpack. “Where you gon’ to end up at?”

“Probably Stanford, the coach said I could probably start right away, but anyways you ready to play?”

“Let’s go!”

The two lace up their sneakers and take the floor that was probably the most completion you’d get at a rec center in Las Vegas. They’re team didn’t lose any games for at least an hour and a half while they pleased the few spectators with multiple alley oop slams. Eventually they just stop trying and start shooting threes so a team could finally beat them.

“Man I still can’t believe you’re going to whatever school it is,” Stone jokingly shakes his head. “You need to transfer or de-commit or something, come to Stanford, Arizona or anything better than NORTHERN COLORADO. You’re way too good to play those with those scrubs.”

“Chill Stone, I’m just going to see how things go my freshman year and if I’m dominating and not getting any looks than maybe I’ll come-“

Kendall stops talking when he glances at the door and sees a very familiar face that he soon recognized as LJ.

[beast10]

Re: Can't Stop Me | Story of Kendall Jenkins




June 28th, 2015 - Continued
This is also in the point of view of LJ...

---

I’d been looking for Kendall ever since Ace delivered the task but still experienced very little luck with finding him. I’d looked all around 21st and talked to the ones who knew him but they all said they didn’t know, finally I looked in the gym and there he was; the tall kid with all the hair.

I rubbed my hands in a mischievous way and acted like I didn’t see him at first. I then look over at him with a fake surprised look.

“Kendall? Is that you?”

“Don’t play dumb, you know it’s me,” he snarled in response. “What do you want?”

“Easy man, I don’t want anything. I heard you was just back in town, didn’t think I’d run into you.”

“Well here I am… I don’t why you’re acting all friendly, I still remember you going off on that phone a couple months ago. You got all my friends turning on me and stuff.”

“Let’s go to the hallway, I’ll explain all of it to you.” I suggest as he starts to get overly loud.

“Man, whatever, let’s go.”

We head out to the hall and I start to elaborate on everything that had gone on since he left.

“The police are corrupt… They’re in the middle of these street wars, they planting evidence on the innocent. It’s just crazy out here, you understand? You probably think I’m mad at you but I’m really not, I’m trying to get out of here and you probably trying to do the same and I respect that but these days its real easy to get caught up in some stuff. Word on the street is Ace and all the Rollerz are after you and in fact, me… I don’t know if you know this by now but the Rollerz don’t **** around, it’s me and you, we in this together.”

“Man! Why can’t I just play ****ing basketball, why this dude feel he has to kill me because- THERE’S NOT EVEN A REASON! I’m from the hood but I’m NOT hood, I DON’T belong in this! I just want to play ball and get my family out of here so I don’t got to deal with this bull****.”

“Like I said, you got caught up and there’s now there’s no turning back while you’re around. I got your back, stick with me and we’ll both make it out. I’ll show you around and give you the advice you need to make it until you get to college.”

“Alright bet,” he said. “Let me go tell my friend I’m leaving.”


“So where you going to college anyways?” I ask while I drive him to the strong hold.

“Northern Colorado, I’m just hoping I can dominate there and get to the league without having to play all four years. My ultimate goal is to just get this money so I won’t have to worry about this stuff anymore... Get my mom and brother out the hood then get me a low profile crib and have my only problems be my performance on the court.”

“Man I can’t do this,” I reluctantly say.

“What are you talking about?” He questions me as I stop the car en route.

“You know what I was going to do?” I ask him as he sits confused.

“No, I don’t.”

“You can call me a trader or whatever but the Rollerz sold me out… I was working with them and just now I was getting ready to take you to one of their safe houses and they were going to kill you. They said if I don’t do it then they’ll shoot me and I just can’t do it. I lied about having my respect back for you because all this is your fault but I just can’t do it. You exactly how I wanted to be when I grew up; a good kid trying to get out the hood. You were always so timid so I knew you never wanted anything apart of this. That’s how I wish I could’ve been but I made the same mistake as you and turned to the streets.”

He didn’t respond too quickly and stumbled when he began, “So-, I mean, what do we do now. You sure didn’t lie about both our lives being to jeopardy.”

“What you do is your choice, me, I’m going to fight back. I been bowing down to them for a while now and I’m tired of it. I’m going to take what we got left and kill every Roller I see out there. I’m tired of this ****…”

He was speechless so I kept talking.

“I’m going to go and drop you back off at the gym.”

“Alright, thank you for not making that move… I still can’t even believe this, I was minutes away from dying. I kind of want to help you in taking them out.”

“No, don’t do that… Just leave for the campus as soon as you can. You actually got something going for yourself. Just last week I was thinking I wanted to leave all this but I realized I don’t got nothing going for myself, no family, no money, nothing. I might as well end it all killing those who messed everything up for me… I hope you do end up making it, you deserve it.”

[beast10]

Re: Can't Stop Me | Story of Kendall Jenkins

[beast10]

Re: Can't Stop Me | Story of Kendall Jenkins




July 26th, 2015 - Independent

---

Not only a day after Kendall had that encounter with LJ, LJ was announced dead after reportedly singlehandedly entering the Rollerz strong hold [which he was allowed to do] and unexpectedly firing his pistol at multiple gang members before getting shot down by Ace. The peculiar thing however was that Ace wasn’t even arrested; instead another one of the Rollerz got taken for the blame.

Kendall soon afterwards heard about the news and was surprised LJ actually went through with what he said. Despite hating him for all the time they’ve known, he felt a lot of sorrow for LJ, the guy had sacrificed his life for what seemed to be for Kendall’s success. Kendall paid tribute to him at his funeral then didn’t waste any more time to once again leave the city, this time for Greeley, home of his college destination; Northern Colorado.

His alarm clock buzzed and he woke him up as he got ready to start another day… He was about a month in with living here and vastly enjoyed the entirely independent lifestyle to had going on.

Though the city was structured even older than North Las Vegas and St. Louis, Kendall really liked Greeley. He’d rented an apartment for the time being since the campus was on break and dormitories weren’t available. In the meantime he found a job at Foot Locker inside the local mall to support himself probably until the basketball season started.

“What’s up KJ, you ready for this crap again?” Ryan says as Kendall walks through the entrance.

That “crap” was another Jordan release day and everybody knows how those work, they’d be packed all morning… “Nope, not at all,” Kendall goes to the back to check in then returns with Ryan. “Can’t wait til I can quit this, our pay is pretty much getting guaranteed shoes but we’re barely paid enough to even buy them!”

Ryan chuckles, “Yeah…”

Ryan was also a student at Northern Colorado only he was a junior, just your average-joe. Kendall thought he was pretty cool and they sometimes hung out off the job.

The mall’s doors open and the crowd bursts into the building in the complete opposite of orderly fashioned; all headed towards the Foot Locker entrance. Kendall and Ryan do their best to control the line of customers desperately trying to get their hands on the limited Jordan 13s until eventually they were able to put up a sign saying “sold out”. Everybody in the line then started to toss foul language at them and talk about how they were cheated.

Typical.

Kendall then just goes through his routine as the day progresses back to normal but then he sees a woman worth the drop of the jaw who grabs his full attention. She had amazing brown wavy hair flowing to one side of her beautiful creamed color face. Kendall hadn’t seen a better looking girl since, well, forever.

“Ryan I didn’t know you worked here,” She then looks at Kendall and at about 5’3 she’s forced to look very high up at him. “… But I came in to see if you guys still have any size sevens for the 13s?”

Ryan answers before he could even say anything, “Nah, we just ran out.”

“You don’t know that, we might have some in the back. Let me go check for you right quick.” Kendall smiles at her before walking to the back of the store.

He comes back with a foolish grin on his face looking at Ryan, “I found this six and a half in the back if that’s good for you.”

“Yeah, that’s perfect, thanks!” She grabs the box and proceeds to the register to purchase the shoes.

“How do you know her? I was trying to get her number or something but she just ****ing walked off.”

“No,” Ryan says with an extension of emphasis. “She goes to our school, that’s Lonnie’s girlfriend, he’s a linebacker-“

Kendall ignores him and meets her at the exit, “Aye you in college?”

“Yeah I go to North Colorado, right up the street. Why?”

“Me too,” He says faking a surprised tone. “I play ball for them, I’m a freshman and I’m about to be the best on the team. You ever heard of me?”

“Oh!” She beamingly said. “That’s why you’re so tall, are you that guy Jenkins?”

“Yep that’s me. My name’s Kendall, you are?”

“Wow! I’m Charlie, I’ve heard a lot about you. They say you’re supposed to be the best player our school has ever had or something! It’s good to meet you.” She smiles, the same smile that’d been on her face since they started talking.

“Yeah same, maybe we should try to get to know each other before school starts, you know? Can I get your number or something?”

“Well I’m kind of taken already but we can be friends or something?” She suggests, Kendall didn’t want that route.

“When I go out for basketball, they always put three defenders on me and guess what I did?”

“What?”

“Score, I bet I can score you too.”

She giggled, “That’s kind of clever, you seem cool, I’ll give you my number; let’s just keep it on the down-low.”

“Alright bet.” Kendall pulls his phone out and enters in her contact information.

“Bye!” She says as she finishes up and walks out the store and Ryan stands there shocked at Kendall.

“For one, that was the corniest line I’ve ever heard but anyways I would seriously advise against what you’re doing but I’ll let you do you, freshman."

“I got her number didn’t I? Having game like me is an advantage I ought of teach you one of these days." Kendall brags.

[Deuce2223]

Re: Can't Stop Me | Story of Kendall Jenkins

Hopefully Kendall can have the type of career at UNC that Cam Atkinson had for me, Big Sky FOY and then 3 straight Big Sky POY honors. Also maybe you can bring home a chip to Greeley instead of just a Final 4.