Ever since its inception into Division I, the Sac State men?s basketball team has tried diligently to catch fire. But in order to start a fire you must first produce a spark.

Enter newly hired coach Jerome Jenkins. He?s been a player, has the respect of each and every one of his players, and he expects no less than 110 percent every time his team steps on to the floor. For Sac State, the spark has arrived.

“He has a hunger,” junior center Arinze Anouro said. “He feeds off all of us, and now we?ve got that hunger back as well. It?s something that we had lost, but with coach Jenkins here, we?re getting that back.”

An assistant to Tom Abetemarco a season ago, Jenkins is no stranger to Sac State basketball. But when the Hornets take the court for their first game Nov. 17, there will be little resemblance, if any, to the teams of troubled past.

“It?s going to be very up-tempo,” Jenkins said. “We?re going to get out and run this year. We want to dictate the tempo and redefine Sac State basketball. When somebody says ?Sac State,? they?ll know what type of team and philosophy that we have here.”

Jenkins, 33, has the official title of “interim” head coach, but that?s not something that worries him. His job is to win games, and that?s where his concentration lies.

“I have just got to do my job. I can?t worry about what goes on with that other stuff,” he said. “I think I?m doing a lot for the program. I?ve brought some new things, like a summer camp and a developmental clinic that we put on every Sunday for nine weeks. I just have to go out and win games, improve the program, and bring pride. Everything else will work itself out.”

While pride is something that comes with time, the Hornet players have certainly responded quickly to Jenkins? style.

“We love his system,” junior Rene Jacques said. “He?s a great motivater. I don?t know if it?s because he?s younger than most coaches, but he brings a lot of energy to practice. We?re more up-tempo than ever, and he?s done really well in preparing us to get the job done.”

Jenkins excelled as a player before making the move to the coach?s box. He was a point guard for L.A. City College, Southwestern Oregon community college, and ended his playing days at Regis University in Denver, earning all-conference honors at each stop along the way.

“He?s great to play for because he?s played himself,” senior Ricky Glenn said. “He knows that what happens on the court doesn?t always go the way it?s supposed to according to the play book.”

After graduating from Regis University in 1990 with a degree in criminal justice, Jenkins became an assistant there for one season. He then distanced himself from the game for two years before taking an assistant coaching position at Diablo Valley College. After DVC, Jenkins went to Sac State?s Big Sky rival, Eastern Washington, where he oversaw recruiting and worked as a backcourt coach.

All those years as an assistant, Jenkins was able to keep a closer relationship with the individual players, but now, as a head coach for the first time, he has had to make an adjustment to the way he conducts the everyday relationship between him and his players.

“I?m the head coach now,” he said. “They all know that I still have an ?open door? policy, but now I have a new set of guidelines. Last year, I was just within coach Abetemarco?s system and his guidelines. I had to follow him. But now I have a new role. This is my system, and I think that the players have adapted well to that structure.” His structure is one that is demanding of players? attention along with respect, and Jenkins feels that in the end, he will bring more to his players? lives than basketball. “I just want these guys to take everything we do on the floor and add that to what they do off the floor,” he said. “I want them to relate it to life. They need to take it to the real world, because there is competition everywhere. Every job interview will include competition, it?s there every day of the year.”

While the results of Jenkins? energy and up-tempo style wait in the wings of the upcoming season, one thing is for sure: his players are responding and the confidence in him is more than evident.

“A lot of us are really excited about the season,” said Anouro. “This is the first season since I?ve been here that we?ve had a true sense of pride, and I think that he?s a big part of why.”