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Rice Consolidated graduates and lifelong best friends Avan Woolridge and AJ Jenkins have committed to play basketball at Blinn College next season.
Woolridge learned May 18 that he had made the team. Jenkins attended Blinn’s summer tryout July 8 and learned two days later that he had also earned a spot.
“It means a whole lot to me that I get to continue my basketball career with my best friend,” Woolridge said. “I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
“It means a lot to me. I would’ve never thought I would actually still be playing ball with someone I grew up with,” Jenkins said. “Avan and I have been friends and playing together since we were kids. Now that I am heading to play college ball with him, I feel more comfortable and confident in everything that I do. Because he has my back and he knows I have his.”
For Woolridge, Blinn was always on his mind. He spent his senior season preparing for the spring tryout, and once he earned a roster spot, he immediately encouraged Jenkins to pursue the same opportunity.
“Well AJ and I have been talking about playing basketball with each other since we were little, so when I made the team, I made sure AJ would at least have the decency to try out as well, and when we saw there was a summer tryout, he paid the registration fee and we went,” Woolridge said. “I was happy he did it and made the team in the next couple of days!”
For Jenkins, he was ready for a break from basketball. During the summer, he got the itch to return to the court, and he credits Woolridge for helping him get there.
“Avan was telling me about Blinn and said he was going to the spring basketball tryouts, but I never really thought much of it for myself. He would tell me I should go with him to tryout- this was still was towards the end of our senior year,” Jenkins said. “At that time, I was just so ready for everything to be over. I mean I wanted to play college basketball, but I also wanted to just relax and be able to take a break. This summer I got a sudden urge and I wanted to play. We got online and saw there was a summer tryout. I paid the registration fee online and barely got it done in time. I cut it close, because I got that ‘urge’ two days before their last tryout!”
Jenkins is very excited to be joining Blinn’s basketball program and even more excited that he gets to play alongside his best friend. He thinks being in the program together will help them both become the best players they can be on the court.
“I’m playing at Blinn with someone I grew up with and played basketball with since sixth grade. We played outside all day every day from our first real game in seventh grade, through AAU ball, and all the way to our last game our senior year,” Jenkins said. “That’s something special. I feel like it’s going to help not only my game, but I feel like it’s going to benefit both of us. It’s also going to make us better players simply because we are going to hold each other accountable and making sure, we’re doing the right thing.”
Woolridge also thinks they will both benefit on the court by having each other to lean on but he is looking at the work on the court and the work in the classroom.
That mindset aligns well with Blinn’s expectations for its student- athletes. As redshirt freshmen, Woolridge and Jenkins will spend their first two weeks on campus focused primarily on academics before turning their attention fully to basketball.
The pair are scheduled to move into the boys’ basketball dorms on Aug. 21, where they will begin their college basketball careers.
“It’s a process for everything, not just basketball but our academics as well. I think it’s going to help both of us a lot to get ourselves on track and keep us focused,” Woolridge said. “We both didn’t make it to college sports to fail. We came to achieve and succeed!”
