If you followed Virginia Men’s Basketball in the early 2000s you’ll remember that a few of Pete Gillen’s players went from highly touted recruits, to falling into legal trouble, to transferring into obscurity. For example, as a sophomore in 2002, Virginia shooting guard Jermaine Harper was arrested for a DUI and suspended from the team. He later transferred to Cal St. Fullerton and averaged around 10 points per game in his two seasons there. But the most intriguing story like this has to be the story of Keith Jenifer. For those of you who don’t remember Jenifer, he was a 6’2” point guard from Towson Catholic High School in Baltimore. He was a skinny kid, with a perpetually baby face and braids like Wallace from “The Wire.” Though he led the team in assists at the time of his suspension, I remember him not being as good as he should have been. In early February 2003 Jenifer was suspended indefinitely from the team. The police had charged him with assault. This was just three months after the suspension of Harper. Two sophomore guards gone. Throw in a grossly underperforming Travis Watson in his senior year and you can paint your own picture of how the season turned out. Jenifer’s departure left then-coach Pete Gillen pretty sour. A few years ago Gillen was ringing the bell for the Salvation Army outside of Barnes and Noble in Charlottesville. My friend went up and put a dollar in the pot stating, “This is for Keith Jenifer.” To which Gillen replied, “That guy was a bum. He didn’t do anything for us. He’s not worth a dollar.” Jenifer not only left the team, but he had apparently stolen Pete Gillen’s Christmas spirit, as well. After his release from the team, Jenifer transferred to Murray State. He finished out his career with the Racers in 2006, never averaging more than 7.9 points per game. During his junior season he averaged 4 assists per game, which was good enough for third in the Ohio Valley Conference, but this isn’t the interesting part of the story. What’s interesting is what Jenifer has been up to since his basketball career ended. The records are scarce, but I’ve tried my best to piece it together. On June 10th, 2009 Jenifer was arrested for drug trafficking in Murray, Kentucky. The arrest was part of what appears to be some kind of drug bust bonanza known as, “Operation June Justice.” Jenifer was arrested along with 36 other individuals in “an early morning drug round-up.” He was charged with two counts of “Trafficking in Controlled Substance 1st Degree 2nd Offense.” On January 15, 2010 Jenifer was sentenced to five years in prison. He is currently serving his sentence at the Calloway County Jail. You can find this information here. I’m really glad I decided to find out what happened to a guy who was kicked off UVa’s team for assault. What I found was so much crazier than I originally anticipated. I wonder what Jermaine Harper is doing…
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