Zaria Jenkins was scared.
Jay Jay Swanigan was nervous.
When you’re playing the waiting game, it’s natural for those emotions to take hold.
But the doubts that might have crept into the minds of Jenkins and Swanigan disappeared in the past week thanks to timely deliveries by the U.S. Postal Service. The mail Jenkins and Swanigan received carried a simple message: You have been selected to the USA Junior Nationals Mississippi/Louisiana All-State High School Basketball team.
The selection of Jenkins, a 5-foot-11 1/2 sophomore on the Columbus High School girls basketball team, and Swanigan, a 6-4 senior swingman from Columbus High, paved the way for them to represent Mississippi and Louisiana in the USA International Basketball Championship on July 8-12 in Columbus, Ohio.
Both players participated in a tryout last month at Millsaps College in Jackson. Both said the experience was tiring and a great test to see how they fared against some of their best peers in the region.
For Swanigan, the tryout was a chance to showcase his skills to coaches in hopes of securing an opportunity to play basketball in college. This past season, Swanigan averaged 7.9 points and 2.8 rebounds for a team that went 22-6 and lost in the second round of the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 6A State tournament.
“It was very surprising that I made it because I thought I wasn’t going to make it,” Swanigan said. “But I kept a good mind and I just kept praying about it. When I opened the mailbox (Wednesday), it was there.”
Swanigan said last month that he hoped the event “leads to my future.” With that kind of expectation accompanying him, Swanigan said he was pleased with how he played, especially because he showcased offensive and defensive dimensions to his game.
“I was kinda nervous, but once I got my rhythm going, I just started playing ball,” said Swanigan, who played every position except for point guard. “I was hitting a lot of shots. I was hitting from outside and mid-range shots.”
Jenkins also believes she displayed potential that could be promising to college coaches. Coming off her first varsity season, Jenkins was anxious to see if she could hold her own in the three games. She said she played power forward in all of the games and felt she did well.
“I felt pretty good when I left,” Jenkins said. “I thought I did a good job. I brought the ball up the court when other players couldn’t. I rebounded a lot. I blocked out a lot, and I played good defense.”
As well as she played, Jenkins admitted to being scared after the event because she wasn’t sure if she had made an impression against a high level of competition. The anxiety didn’t go away in the three weeks since the tryout. She admitted it took a long time to receive the letter. When she finally received it last week, she knew right away it was something good.
“I was excited, very excited,” Jenkins said. “I could feel a lot of paper in there, so I knew I made it.”
Columbus High girls basketball coach Yvonne Hairston hopes the experience of the tryout and the opportunity to go to Ohio will help build Jenkins’ confidence and self-esteem. She feels Jenkins is part of a bright future for her program.
“Since she has been back from the camp, she is working real hard in the weight room and is focusing more on defense and ballhandling,” Jenkins said. “This is a good thing for her to have the opportunity to see players her age and of the same caliber so she can see her strengths and weaknesses and come back and build on that to become a better player.”
Hairston said Jenkins’ confidence developed as the season progressed. Toward the end of the year, she said Jenkins became a “go-to player” who realized what she could do on the court. Hairston said Jenkins is hard to defend because she can handle the basketball and post up. She also said Jenkins is understanding the game even more, which is an exciting thought for a team that will be made up largely of juniors and seniors next season.
This past season, Hairston said Jenkins averaged about 10 points and five rebounds per game. She also said she was a strong free-throw shooter (75-78 percent).
Jenkins said her goal is to take the lessons she learned last month and the ones she hopes to learn this summer to come back as a stronger and smarter player who can help the Lady Falcons make a deeper run in the playoffs.
Swanigan already has benefited from the initial opportunity. He said he has a tryout scheduled next week at Holmes Community College in Goodman and another at Concordia College, a four-year school in Selma, Alabama. If he doesn’t get a chance to play basketball at either one of those schools, Swanigan hopes to be able to access a bigger stage in July to help him catch the attention of a college coach.
“I feel like something good is coming my way,” Swanigan said. “I am just waiting on it. I am not rushing anything.
“I know it is not going to be given to me because nothing ever was given to me. I always worked for what I wanted. If I keep working hard the way I am now, I am coming. Just wait.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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