Jenkins making smooth transition to leading New Madrid hoops

It would be commonplace to believe replacing a coaching icon could prove to be intimidating but watching recently-hired New Madrid County Central varsity boy’s basketball coach Dontre Jenkins lead the Eagles through summer workouts, it seems as if he was born to be in this position.

“This isn’t my first rodeo,” Jenkins said. “For the last eight years, I have been doing this during the summertime.”

Jenkins, who graduated an Eagle in 2010, has been an assistant coach for the New Madrid County Central program since he returned to his hometown after graduating from William Woods College, where he was the program’s all-time assist leader.

He learned at the side of Missouri Sports Hall of Fame coach, Lennies McFerren, and for those that followed the Eagles, his involvement with the program seemingly grew every time the sun rose.

“Especially when (Coach McFerren) came here,” Jenkins said, “I handled most of the summer stuff.”

McFerren returned to New Madrid for the 2018-19 season and recently retired. He allowed Jenkins to handle a (very) large portion of the day-to-day responsibilities of the program, which explains why Jenkins was casually orchestrating the Eagles during their recent scrimmages, and every player had his eyes and ears glued to their coach as he spoke.

“During the season,” Jenkins continued, “I handled most of the day-to-day stuff, so the transition hasn’t been bad.”

Jenkins was instrumental in the success of New Madrid County Central success in recent years, including consecutive trips to the MSHSAA Class 3 Final Four each of the past two seasons.

The Eagles finished third in the state in 2022 and won the title this past season.

“I did most of the scouting,” Jenkins explained, “so, I have been doing (the coaching).”

McFerren, who stepped away from the bench at 74 years of age, handed Jenkins a lot of responsibility. However, letting go of a lot of that work won’t be as easy for Jenkins to do, he admitted.

“I will continue to do the scouting,” Jenkins said, “but I will also continue to give some to my assistants.”

McFerren wasn’t a teacher at New Madrid County Central High School, so during the day, so if there were any issues involving an Eagle student-athlete, it was Jenkins, who worked at New Madrid County Central Middle School, that the administration had on speed dial.

“If there was anything going on,” Jenkins said, “they would call me.”

Jenkins will move to the high school this fall to serve as a physical education teacher, so his presence will be even more prevalent than before with the New Madrid County Central student-athletes.

That includes during the summer, where he is currently mentoring Eagle senior star athlete Jadis Jones through his college recruiting process.

Jones is being sought after by several NCAA Division I football and basketball programs.

“Jadis will call and ask me questions,” Jenkins said. “My main thing is trying to see what makes him happy. I tell him all of the time to do what makes him happy. Don’t try to please anybody else.

“If it is the football route or the basketball route, at the end of the day, he is the one that has to put the time in, he is the one that will have to be there grinding, so he needs to do what makes him happy.”

Jenkins, being a former college athlete himself, has the insight to understand where and how the college coaches are coming from in their recruitment of Jones, and he passes that knowledge onto his young athlete.

“Once you sit down and talk to a coach,” Jenkins said, “you feel where he is coming from. If he is one of those guys, who will shoot it straight with you, then that is a guy, who you want to communicate with and buy into what they can offer you.

“Not one of those guys, who are giving you the runaround. He’ll shoot you a text one day and then you won’t hear from them for two or three weeks. Those are the guys, who you want to filter out.”

Jenkins has walked the same path, literally, as Jones, as well as all of the other Eagle student-athletes, who are talented enough to take their careers to the next level. In leading the Eagles, Jenkins said he felt immense pride and responsibility to represent the school and community in the right manner.

“It is definitely pride,” Jenkins said as he scoured the New Madrid gymnasium’s ceiling, which is filled with banners marking the success of the Eagle programs. “I tell the guys when they get done here, they should want to be able to look up in the rafters and see the stuff that they have accomplished.

“When you come back, you can tell your kids and your grandkids about hanging a banner up there.”