Recruiting Report: CJ Jennings (2017)
CJ Jennings has an entertaining personality that isn’t hard to spot. During a summer league game on Saturday at the Metro State Team Camp, the 6-2 rising senior at Sierra was lining up alongside the lane for a teammate’s free…
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Continue ReadingCJ Jennings has an entertaining personality that isn’t hard to spot. During a summer league game on Saturday at the Metro State Team Camp, the 6-2 rising senior at Sierra was lining up alongside the lane for a teammate’s free throw attempt when some of his buddies from Colorado Spring shouted for him.
Jennings answered with a miniature dance move and a grin. Then he went back to dominating.
The guard who is surging up the ladder in Colorado’s 2017 class did plenty of that last season, a spectacular junior campaign in which he averaged 22 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.7 steals per game while leading the Stallions to a 20-5 record, an undefeated 14-0 season and league title and a berth in the Sweet 16 of the Class 4A playoffs.
“I stepped up a lot in my scoring,” Jennings said. “I felt like during my freshman and sophomore years, I was more of a role player. This year I had to step up a lot more in the scoring department and on defense, too.”
Scoring at such a rate doesn’t happen without a versatile offensive skill set. Jennings displayed his many tools in a victory over Arapahoe on Saturday. He picked off a pass and finished with a dunk on the other end. He broke down his defender of the dribble and finished off the glass. He knocked down 3-pointers.
Then, there were the mid-range jumpers. If Jennings doesn’t have the best mid-range jump shot in the state, he’s might close. He gets great elevation on his shot, allowing him to see over just about any defender an opponent could throw at him. He stays balanced on his release, follow through and landing, and the results usually follow.
“I spend a lot of hours with Trey (Harris of Pluto Basketball, Jennings’ trainer) on that,” he said of his jump shot. “We focus on a lot of pull-ups because that’s always there to take in my game. That’s been the major thing.”
Jennings’ talents and production have earned him significant interest from several Division I schools, including Boise State, University of Denver, UMass Lowell and South Dakota.
Jennings has yet to receive an offer, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see one land soon if he continues to improve at the rate he has.
“That first offer will feel good for me, just one more step,” Jennings said. “And hopefully more roll in from there. I’m not too worried about that right now.”
He’ll be back on the grassroots circuit in July with the Colorado Miners.
“I feel like we can do big things this summer,” Jennings said.