Amiya Jenkins Joins Pitt Transfer Class
5/29/2024 12:31:00 PM | Women's Basketball
PITTSBURGH – Pitt's roster remake under second-year head coach Tory Verdi continued to take shape with the addition of Kentucky transfer Amiya Jenkins Wednesday afternoon. The 5-10 rising junior guard with two seasons of eligibility remaining averaged 5.4 points and 2.3 rebounds in 52 games as a Wildcat.
"Amiya is an outstanding athlete with great upside," said Verdi. "She is an aggressive guard with a scorers' mentality. She will have an opportunity in our program to use her athleticism to impact the game on both ends of the floor. We are eager to get her on campus and begin working with her."
Jenkins averaged 7.5 points and 3.3 rebounds in 22.26 minutes per game while starting 17 of 26 games played last season. She posted eight double-figure scoring games, three 15+ point games and one 20+ point game as a sophomore. Jenkins scored a career-high 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field in a win over Lipscomb and had 18 points, six rebounds, an assist, and a steal in a career-high 36 minutes of action at Florida Gulf Coast.
As a freshman at Kentucky, Jenkins averaged 3.2 points per game and 1.3 rebounds per game in 8.9 minutes per game over 26 contests.
Jenkins picked Kentucky over Tennessee, Rutgers, Virginia Tech, Penn State, and others following a decorated high school career that included 2022 Miss Kentucky Basketball honors. As a senior at Anderson County High School, she averaged 20.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, 4.1 steals, and 2.9 assists per game, while leading the Bearcats to a 30-5 record. She shot 53 percent from the field, 45 percent from three-point range and 73 percent from the free-throw line as a senior. Jenkins was named the 2021 MaxPreps Kentucky Player of the Year for her impressive junior season where she led Anderson County to a 28-3 record and a semifinal appearance in the Girl's Sweet 16. She averaged 17.2 points per game as a junior, hitting over 54 percent from the field and was named Lexington Herald-Leader First Team All-State. As a sophomore, she played in 36 games, averaging 15.2 points per game while hitting 57.3 percent from the field and helping Anderson County to the 30th District and Eighth Region Championships.
A four-star prospect and No. 94 overall player in ESPN.com recruiting rankings, Jenkins finished her high school career with 2,212 points, 739 rebounds and led Anderson County to three straight KHSAA Eighth Region championships.
Jenkins is the fifth transfer portal addition for the Panthers joining former Kentucky teammate Brooklynn Miles, Khadija Faye (Texas), MaKayla Elmore (Clemson) and Mikayla Johnson (Colorado).