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player ready...Evanston senior linebacker Jalan Jenkins announced via Twitter that he has verbally committed to the Minnesota State Mankato football team.
Jenkins, who made the announcement on Friday, Jan. 15, is slated to join a very successful Division II program with several area players. The Mavericks reached the national title game in 2014, but lost to Colorado State Pueblo 13-0. Minnesota State Mankato earned a No. 2 seed for the 2015 playoffs but lost to seventh-seeded Emporia State 51-49 on a last-second field goal in the opening round.
Minnesota State Mankato finished 10-2 in 2015 and won its third consecutive Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference championship.
Senior tailback Connor Thomas (Notre Dame), sophomore quarterback Nick Pieruccini (Notre Dame), redshirt freshman tailback Julius Holley (Loyola) and junior offensive lineman Scott McDowell (Hinsdale Central) were among the area athletes on the Mavericks’ 2015 roster.
In a Sept. 10, 2015, Pioneer Press story, Eric Van Dril wrote that Jenkins was “born with Erb’s palsy, an arm condition that is due to an injury to the arm’s upper nerves, according to the Mayo Clinic website. Jenkins has full use of his right arm, but not full range of motion.”
Twitter: @Ryan_Nilsson