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DOWAGIAC — Southwestern Michigan College Head Coach Jay Jenkins has been named the 2023-24 Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan Women’s Junior College Coach of the Year.

Founded in 1976, BCAM is the organization that selects Mr. and Miss HS Basketball for the state and honors coaches at every level.

Jenkins was hired as SMC head coach in August 2023 and hit the ground running by leading a Roadrunner squad that improved its win total to 26 games, including another season with just one loss at home in the 1st Source Bank Fieldhouse, shared the Michigan Community College Athletic Association Western Conference championship, and not only qualified for the Great Lakes District Tournament again, but was the No. 1 seed for the B tournament.

Southwestern Michigan defeated Lakeland Community College and St. Clair County Community College to win the championship and earn an automatic bid into the Division II National Championships. The Roadrunners fell to North Central Missouri College in the opening round.

Jenkins played basketball at Concordia College in Selma, Alabama. After graduating from Liberty University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies in 2013, Jenkins continued at Liberty and earned a Master of Arts in Theology in 2015.

Jenkins, who was the coach at National Junior College Athletic Association Division 1 Kaskaskia College in Centralia, Ill. prior to his arrival in Dowagiac, has been coaching college basketball since 2014.