NORFOLK, VA (WTKR) — Two years into his time at Wichita State, Menchville product Chaunce Jenkins felt a change of scenery was necessary. He'd averaged just over seven minutes and two points a game with the Shockers in 24 contests.
"It was a culture shock when I got out there, just being 18-years old, out there on my own," Jenkins said.
It didn't take long for Old Dominion to want to bring Jenkins back home.
"A week into the portal, Coach (John) Richardson hit me up," Jenkins said. "Then a week after that Coach (Jeff) Jones hit me and it was just music to my ears."
He was back around friends and family, including one member he never saw coming.
Virginia Beach's PJ Gill has been back with the Monarchs for a year. He'd met Chaunce before when the two were still playing high school basketball, but one call from his grandfather changed everything.
"He asked about Chaunce and I said, 'Yeah, he's from the area,'" Gill remembered, "but he had some news for me which was that him and Chaunce's grandfather are actually cousins."
"He was like, 'You have a grandfather that lives in Las Vegas,'" Jenkins recalled. "I was like, 'Yeah, how do you know that?' He goes, 'I guess we're cousins, my grandad know your grandad, I guess they're cousins.' That's when we found out."
Suddenly the local hoopers coming back home were not only finding out they're new teammates, but that they're family.
"We followed each other on social media before getting here, so I knew who he was," Jenkins said. "I didn't really know him personally but once we got here it was an instant connection."
Something they may never have learned about if Jenkins had returned to Wichita State for another year.
"My grandfather never would have had a reason to look up the roster, to do his own research," Gill, a senior on the Monarchs' roster, said. "Things happen for a reason."
There's already been some good, family competition.
"He's never scored on me in practice," Jenkins said. "He'll never score on me in practice."
"I believe that's 100 percent false," Gill retorts.
Something Chaunce and PJ are embracing, because one transfer decision helped bring these two cousins together.
"We went with the flow of things," Gill said. "Found out we're cousins and now, we can call each other on a regular basis. We can get in the gym more often and it'll be more comfortable."
"It just helps so much throughout this process, having someone who I know is family here," Jenkins said.
Old Dominion begins its basketball season against Maryland Eastern Shore on November 7.
