Doing Work with DJonkins -- Hard Work Pays Off for Dekaney Stars

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The Champs

Hard Work Pays off for Dekaney Wildcats

By Matt Malatesta

CUTLINE -- The Dekaney Wildcats Patrick Martin, Armand Nance, trainer Derrick Jonkins and D'Juan Hines

Winning a state championship just doesn't happen. It takes talent, a little luck and a lot of hard work.

The Dekaney Wildcats shocked the Texas High School landscape, coming virtually out of nowhere to win the Class 5A Division I state championship over the holidays. Not  48 hours after raising the hardware and draping the gold medals around their necks, a trio of Wildcats were back on their grind for their own respective reasons.

Prior to the 2011 season and now having reached the high school football mountaintop, Dekaney quarterback D'Juan Hines, two-way star Armand Nance and defensive back Patrick Martin have been "Doing Work with Derrick Jonkins" for the past year.

The 6-foot-3 Nance starred at tight end and defensive end for Dekaney and will sign with the Boise State Broncos in February.

"We don't get our workout programs from Boise State until we sign on the dotted line," Nance said. "I've been working with Derrick for a while now and I know he will have me prepared for the major DI college game."

While Nance's future is seemingly determined, senior safety Patrick Martin is working for that coveted college scholarship.

"I want to be prepared for anything," Martin said. "Whether it's participating in a non-signed senior combine to showing a prospective school that I'm just in shape on my own, that's why I'm doing this. I can't get complacent and we all push each other. Derrick does most of the pushing."

With Martin and Nance six months away from graduation, D'Juan Hines still has another year of football and will be setting the tone for Dekaney's 2012 offseason.

"I'm just trying to get better every day," he said. "I'm going to be watching my guys (Nance and Martin) in college next year and I'm the young guy left to keep this thing going. I have seen what the extra work did for me this past year and I'm just going to keep grinding. I want a college football future as well."

Derrick Jonkins is a sports trainer, who works with dozens of Houston-area high school stars that will play at the college level in years to come. From baseball and diving, to girls' basketball and soccer athletes, Jonkins can tailor-make programs for any athlete.

But his passion is football. Not just training players but guiding them on the way to the college game. He's played college football, been through the recruiting process and now acts as a mentor for his clients.

“While I do training, I’m also a resource to a lot of my parents throughout the recruiting process," Jonkins said. "From advising them on what camps to attend, to getting through the NCAA Clearinghouse, there are a lot components to playing somewhere at the next level. This is my passion and it’s been a blessing to have trained so many kids who have realized their dreams of playing Division I sports.”

Unfortunately, he can't guarantee a state championship.

"I'm proud of these kids because no one knows how much hard work goes into winning a state championship," Jonkins said. "They would go to school, then to practice and then come to work out with me at night during the week.  All these kids are also Honor Roll students. Not many kids are willing to pay that price to get better."