Through the 2021-22 season, Daniss Jenkins has grown into a leader on the court for the Odessa College men’s basketball team.
In the Wranglers’ recent showings, he has gotten an outside view from the bench as other teammates have seen their minutes increase.
Odessa College is currently on a 12-game winning streak and entered the top 10 of the NJCAA Division I men’s basketball rankings this week.
Jenkins said it feels good seeing his teammates get stronger as the campaign moves forward.
“I get to see them get confidence in themselves and that’s what makes me happy all the time,” Jenkins said.
The point guard led the Wranglers with 33 points against Western Texas College in Western Junior College Athletic Conference play Feb. 4, going 8-for-10 from beyond the arc.
Jenkins said one of Odessa College’s strengths is its cohesiveness and that has been preached early on by men’s basketball coach Kris Baumann.
Now that the Wranglers are ranked No. 9 in the country, Jenkins believes there’s no added pressure but the expectations for the team are still high.
Grabbing this new ranking means more to Jenkins than the Wranglers’ original spot in the top 25 to start the season.
“We can honestly say we earned something, that’s why I think it’s a big deal this time,” Jenkins said.
The Wranglers (20-5 overall, 11-0 conference) host New Mexico Military Institute at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the OC Sports Center.
>> PUTTING THINGS TOGETHER: Odessa College baseball coach Kurtis Lay saw his young group start the season with plenty of things to work on after splitting a doubleheader against Wharton County Junior College Feb. 6.
Lay said his team’s pitching was ahead of its offense, which is normal for this time of year.
The baseball coach still believes there are some question marks within his bullpen.
The pitchers got time to prepare in the fall, but Lay feels that things are different now that the season has started.
“Now there’s a scoreboard and everything’s on the line, we have to figure out which one of those younger guys is going to step up and embrace roles at the back end of the bullpen,” Lay said.
Marshall Wales and Will Hellings stood out to Lay with their performances on the mound.
The Wranglers (1-1 overall) look to iron out some of the kinks in road contests over the weekend, facing Ranger College in a doubleheader Friday and McLennan Community College in two games Saturday.
Lay knows his team is facing tall tasks to start the season, but feels it will be beneficial down the line.
“I always want to throw our guys in the fire early,” Lay said. “It doesn’t always work out in our favor, but at the same time the ultimate goal is to be playing good baseball in the late spring.
“Getting battle tested early and getting some of your weaknesses exposed allows us to fix those holes.”
>> ROUGH OUTINGS: Odessa College softball coach Jeff Jackson also saw plenty to improve on within his team after its first games of the season.
The Lady Wranglers opened the campaign with victories over Blinn College and Connors State College, but lost to San Jacinto College-South and Alvin Community College.
“There’s a lot of things that kind of surprised us a little bit that we thought we were maybe a little bit different of a team,” Jackson said. “We’ve got to find our offense for sure.”
Jackson attributed most of his team’s mistakes to freshmen moving too fast and losing track of their game.
He wants to see his young players slow things down and gain some confidence in their hitting.
The Lady Wranglers (2-2 overall) will test their comfort zones by hosting the Permian Basin Invitational Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Wrangler Softball Complex.
Odessa College is scheduled to play Cisco College, Luna Community College, Tyler Junior College and Hesston College in the invitational.
“We don’t want to cupcake it by any means, we want to have an opponent who comes out swinging,” Jackson said. “We have to go and match that intensity, we’ve got to go and make sure we’re taking care of our business.”
>> Follow Chris Amaya on Twitter at @OA_CAmaya
