Kris Jenkins (born November 20, 1993) is a retired American basketball player who last played in the ProA for Eisbaren Bremerhaven. He was a Villanova Wildcats basketball player best remembered for shooting the game-winning buzzer-beating three-pointer in the 2016 NCAA Championship game. The shot gave Villanova its first national title since 1985.
After graduating from high school in 2012, he decided to forgo his final two years of college eligibility and enter the 2016 NBA Draft. Selected by the Milwaukee Bucks with the 35th overall pick, he became the first Villanovan to be drafted into the NBA.
Jenkins initially signed with an agent but later withdrew from consideration after it became clear that he would not be selected in the draft. He then returned to Villanova for his senior season.
In April 2017, Jenkins announced his retirement from basketball to take advantage of another opportunity. It was later revealed that he had been recruited by multiple Chinese teams but declined to play in China due to concerns about the level of competition there.
He has said that he believes his three-point shot at the end of regulation time in the 2016 NCAA Tournament Game Seven was just outside the line, which would have forced overtime. However, after the game was over he got a call from Jay Wright telling him that the referees had called and told him that the shot was good.
Kris Jenkins: Thank you. This one's for all you Kris Jenkins fans out there. I'm sure you can appreciate this moment after making such a game-winning shot earlier in the season against Pittsburgh.
The final score was 84, but it felt like it was more like 86 at the end of that game. I made a shot to send it to overtime, then we won it in regulation. Now we're back here again with another game-winning shot. It feels great!
I had an opportunity to win this game and I took advantage of it. It wasn't really no matter what situation we were in, I could make a play. So I think that has a lot to do with why I was able to make such a big difference in this game.
We went into overtime and they got the first shot. Then they missed their free throw. I got the ball and I just wanted to go up strong and hope that I get enough lift on the jumper or pull-up jumper to be able to get it over the top. And I did! We ended up winning by one point.
It was definitely not easy.
The Wildcats were coming off a season in which they finished 19-12 (12-4 Big East) and won a No. 7 seed in the NCAA tournament in 1983-84. Rollie Massimino's squad returns its top three scorers—Ed Pinckney (15.4 ppg), Dwayne McClain (13.1 ppg), and Harold Pressley (12.6 ppg)—who led one of the greatest NCAA tournament Cinderella runs in history. Additionally, Massimino brings back four other players who scored at least 100 points last year: Troy Murphy (159 points), Al Skinner (142 points), Terry Martin (131 points), and Rick Pitino (116 points).
Pinckney is the only player with more than 100 points already this year for Villanova. He had 17 points against Georgetown on November 11. Pressley is the only other player with more than 100 career points at Villanova. He has 1,047 points in 102 games (11.5 ppg).
Four other players are scoring at least 10 points per game for Villanova this year: Murphy (18.3 ppg), Skinner (14.0 ppg), Martin (11.9 ppg), and Chris Mullin (11.3 ppg). Five other players on the 1983-84 roster have appeared in at least one game this year for Villanova: Glenn Robinson III (17.8 ppg), David Robinson (12.7 ppg), Paul Silva (11.4 ppg), Roderick Green (10.7 ppg), and Eric Anderson (10.0 ppg).
Matthew Szczur was a consensus All-American and the CAA Offensive Player of the Year during his junior season as Villanova won its first-ever FCS National Championship. He was named MVP of the 2009 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game after gaining 270 all-purpose yards. After graduating from Villanova with a degree in finance, Szczur signed with the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent.
He played four seasons for the Chiefs, finishing with 101 catches for 1,272 yards and nine touchdowns. In 2012, he started eight games before being placed on injured reserve with a knee injury. He returned to action in 2013 but was released by the team after one game when it appeared he had re-injured his knee. He has not played in a regular season game since then.
Szczur played two years at Villanova beginning in 2003. He started 31 of 32 games he played in while at Villanova and finished with 551 rushing attempts for 4,944 yards (9.6 avg.) and 53 receptions for 708 yards (12.4 avg.). He helped lead the Wildcats to their first-ever FCS National Championship in 2009 before leaving as a graduate with a degree in finance.
After going unselected in the 2014 NFL Draft, Szczur decided to return to school instead of trying to make the Chiefs roster as a rookie.
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