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Bryson Jenkins has played a big role in the Morristown West baseball team’s improvement over the past four years. He’ll now have the opportunity to take the skills he’s cultivated to the next level.

He announced last week that he’ll be continuing his athletic and academic careers at Chattanooga State Community College.

A late offer from Chattanooga State made the decision for Jenkins an easy one.

“I had a few schools interested in me. I had an NAIA school, Cumberland University, as well as a few junior colleges around here,” said Jenkins. “Then Chattanooga State reached out to me about a month ago. They have a really good (baseball) program, I’ve been there before to check it out. I loved it and ultimately left the decision in the hands of God.”

Their victory over Walters State in the TCCAA Region 7 Tournament a week after reaching out to Jenkins was a timely one.

The opportunity to improve upon his skills before attending a four-year school that the junior college route provides was a selling point for Jenkins.

“I don’t know if it’ll be a Division I school or a Division II school, we’ll just have to wait and see, but the goal is definitely to attend a four-year university,” he said.

The focus for Jenkins this off-season will be in the weight room and in the kitchen.

“The goal is to put on about 25 pounds of muscle, and really just focus on getting the reps in, getting stronger and trying to beat out the next guy in front of me,” he said when asked how he plans to improve entering his college career. “I want to be a starter when the spring rolls around.”

The unique circumstances of his years at West allowed him to build leadership skills that will prove valuable at the next level.

“Covid year was my freshman year, so it got shortened by that. It kind of stopped me from seeing what leadership was like. We had a good amount of seniors my freshman year and then my sophomore year rolled around and I think we had one senior,” said Jenkins. “It made me really curious about how to be a leader and it really pushed me to become one, so when my junior and senior season rolled around I stepped up and tried to show the younger guys what it was like to lead.”

He couldn’t have gotten to that place alone though, and credits his teammates and coaches with helping him become the player and leader that he is today.

“That also came from my coach, coach Pickett was a great coach, he showed me what it’s like to be a great leader, and my teammates were great, I couldn’t have asked for better teammates,” he said. “They helped me become the player I am today by encouraging me and pushing me to work harder. I had a great four years at West and I will definitely miss it. If I could do it all over again I would.”

Jenkins starts at Chattanooga State in the Fall.