Cologne, Germany - Embry-Ridle men's basketball alum Elijah Jenkins has signed a contract with Deutzer TV, becoming the second former Eagle off of last year's NCAA II Sweet 16 team to play professionally (Romeo Crouch - Oviedo Baloncesto). Jenkins, who holds the claim as the most decorated scholar-athlete in ERAU men's basketball program history, joins DTV in the 1st Regionalliga West, the fourth division of German basketball.

"I'm extremely excited to sign for DTV, the club is gaining a strong reputation and I'm looking forward to contributing to the team and the growing the basketball community in Cologne," Jenkins said. "There's already such a strong culture at the club that prioritizes playing basketball the right way and contributing to the club and community. My time at Embry-Riddle helped prepare me to take this next step with the strong competition in the SSC and our coaches pushing me to improve every day."

Jenkins signed with Embry-Riddle in the fall of 2016 after a stellar prep career playing for his father at Riverwood High School in Atlanta. Jenkins immediately stepped in as the Eagles' starting point guard as a freshman, just the second true freshman to do so under Head Coach Steve Ridder. Jenkins developed into one of the greatest three-point shooters in school history over the course of his five seasons with the Eagles, but more importantly, became one of the best representatives of Embry-Riddle Athletics in department history.

"We're so proud of Elijah, and excited to see him continue his basketball career," Ridder said. "Elijah is one of our most successful student-athletes ever, and it is extremely rewarding for us to see someone who represented Embry-Riddle in the best possible way for five years pursue his dream of advancing himself not only on the basketball court, but academically, professionally, and personally."

Jenkins became the first Eagle ever to be named the Sunshine State Conference Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2021. He was a three-time CoSIDA Academic All-American, the first SSC men's basketball player to ever do so. He was a four-time NABC Honors Court recipient and five-time SSC Commissioner's Honor Roll awardee. As a senior, Jenkins earned second team All-SSC accolades for the Blue and Gold.

On the court, Jenkins appeared in 120 games with 107 career starts (fourth all-time), finishing his career with 1,329 points (21st all-time), 307 made three-pointers (third all-time), .406 shooting percentage from deep (10th all-time), and a .805 shooting clip form the free throw line (seventh all-time). He ranks third in SSC history with 307 made triples, fourth in SSC single-season history with 111 made three-pointers in 2021-22, and holds the Embry-Riddle single-game record with 44 points and 11 made three-pointers when he did so against Alabama-Huntsville (Nov. 7, 2021).

"So far, Elijah has integrated into the team and our mentality as well as I could ever wish for," DTV Head Coach Nils Müller said. "He has also contributed to the team on the court already, as we had hoped."