ÎÞëÊÓƵ

May 19, 2025 By Jonathan Guth 4 min read

When Dierre Jenkins played basketball for Dave Shuck at Uniontown from 1998-2002, defense was stressed, and if you didn’t play defense, you weren’t going to see much time on the court.

The 2002 graduate of Uniontown Area High School played in two state championship games and was an integral part of the Red Raiders’ WPIAL title his senior season.

It has been 23 years since Jenkins had a basketball in his hands at Uniontown, at least as a coach or player, but that will change this upcoming fall, as the 1,000-point scorer and soon-to-be Fayette County ÎÞëÊÓƵ Hall of Fame inductee was hired on May 5 to coach the girls basketball team at Uniontown.

“I would like to thank God for giving me this opportunity,” Jenkins said. “I want these girls to play a lot of basketball because games are won in the offseason, and you need to have a great offseason for your team to do well in the regular season.

“We are going to stress defense and being in shape. That’s my key. The offense is going to come, you have to stop somebody. We are going to play hard-nosed defense.”

Jenkins has brought in a staff of two former Red Raiders who played under Shuck in Ray Robinson and Calvin Winfrey Jr. Jerrod Murtha is a Uniontown native who played his high school basketball at Geibel Catholic.

Jenkins is eager to work with the trio that will focus on playing defense that goes back to their time in high school.

“I think us four all know about defense and playing it the right way,” Jenkins said. “Jerrod’s daughter, Charley, is on the team, and she runs cross country, so I know she will be in great shape.

“We are going to really push these girls, and I know that people don’t like to see hard coaching like that all the time but it’s just discipline. It prepares you for what’s next in life.

“I don’t know too many people from Uniontown who went to the pros, so when you play for a coach that gets on you, that helps you handle it when you get into the workforce. Rest in peace, Mr. Shuck. I want to thank him for the discipline.”

Jenkins will have some help this year, as his daughter, Aierra, will be playing for the Lady Red Raiders after spending her first three seasons at Laurel Highlands. Aierra Jenkins is approaching 1,000-career points and brings a defensive mindset to Uniontown, as she was a solid rebounder and shot blocker for the Lady Mustangs.

“It is going to be really special to have the opportunity to coach her,” Dierre Jenkins said. “I don’t know too many father-daughter combinations that had 1,000 points and at the same school.”

Ironically, Jenkins’ coaching career started at Uniontown’s cross-town rival Laurel Highlands, as he was an assistant on Rick Huager’s staff that produced two WPIAL boys Class 5A championships in four years.

“I think I understand more about the game now and have more patience,” Jenkins said. “I played at Penn State Fayette under Mookie John and my brother, Jajuan Davis, before I started with John Smith and Fayette’s Finest. John got me on at Laurel Highlands coaching the junior high team, which led to getting the job with the high school team.

“I would like to thank John for the opportunity. I learned a lot from Rick Hauger. Watching guys like Robert Cash and Eddie Benton, who coached my daughter, really helped. Being that I am from Uniontown, now it’s time to go back home.”

Jenkins also wanted to thank Rev. Robert Crable, Vince and Calvin Winfrey Sr. for taking him and his teammates at Uniontown to their basketball tournaments in the offseason that helped shape the Red Raiders’ squads he was part of in high school. The group that won the WPIAL will be inducted into the Fayette County ÎÞëÊÓƵ Hall of Fame in June.

“Playing for that team was the best time in my life, and I can’t thank those guys enough for helping us get to where we did,” Jenkins said. “We would work in the summer at 8 in the morning, and if you didn’t put that kind of work in, you wouldn’t play for Mr. Shuck.”