Kenbrell Thompkins up to challenge of replacing Armon Binns
Butch Jones: 'He's very, very hungry for success'
5:32 PM, Apr. 8, 2011


The Enquirer/Cara Owsley
University of Cincinnati wide receiver Kenbrell Thompkins during practice at Sheakley Athletics Center. Photo shot Tuesday April 5, 2011.

On a wall in the Bob Goin team meeting room last year the name of each University of Cincinnati football player was listed under various categories to reflect his level of commitment to the program.

At the top of that list, week after week, was wide receiver Kenbrell Thompkins, which was noteworthy considering that he was ineligible to play last year.

"Even though he wasn't playing, he was still one of our leaders," said UC coach Butch Jones.

Thompkins, a junior from Miami, Fla., and El Camino (Calif.) Community College, was ruled ineligible by the NCAA to play in 2010 because he originally signed with Tennessee, which would not release him from his letter-of-intent.

"I just played my role. I kept my head high and just went out there to compete every day," Thompkins said. "Don't show no down side and just try to get better every day."

That was on the field. In the classroom, Thompkins excelled, earning a 3.9 grade point average in his first quarter and keeping his GPA over 3.0 for every subsequent quarter.

Now he's ready for the football payoff as he prepares to move into the position vacated by Armon Binns, who led the Big East last year in receptions and receiving yardage.

At 6-foot-1, 196 pounds, Thompkins is not as tall as the 6-foot-3 Binns, who was known for leaping above defenders to make catches in traffic, but Jones is confident that Thompkins, with his 4.4 speed in the 40, can stretch the defense much like Binns and Mardy Gilyard did before him.

"I've been really high on Kenbrell and his overall work ethic," said UC quarterback Zach Collaros. "He's a great role model for the young guys, for what you're supposed to do at the Division I level."

Getting to this point has been a struggle for Thompkins.

He grew up in the Liberty city neighborhood in Miami, in the Pork 'N Beans projects that he calls "one of the most notorious projects in Liberty City."

As a kid, Thompkins said, he succumbed to the negativity of his surroundings. He was arrested seven times between the ages of 15 and 18, according to a recent Sports Illustrated report, and says he spent a month in jail as a minor.

"I was growing up in an area that was no good," Thompkins said. "I kind of adapted to it, growing up and seeing it every day, being around it every day. I got sucked into it and it kind of became second nature of my life. I woke up to it. I slept to it. It was like I was breathing negativity."

He played football all of his life until he gave it up his senior year. After high school, he spent a year working and hanging out and watching his brother, Kendal, play football. When Kendall accepted a scholarship from Miami (Fla.), it caught Kenbrell's attention.

"I thought, 'That could be me,' " Thompkins said.

That was enough motivation for Thompkins to separate himself from some of the friends that he decided weren't really friends at all. He enrolled at El Camino, where he caught 69 passes his sophomore year for 1,020 yards and nine touchdowns.

He signed with Tennessee to play for Lane Kiffin, but when Kiffin left for Southern California, Thompkins decided he would leave, too.

He called his cousin, Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown, who had played for Jones at Central Michigan.

"He told me about Cincinnati," Thompkins said. "He told me about his coach being here. He told me coach was great and if I wanted to be part of Cincinnati he suggested that I give coach Jones a call. That's what I did. Coach Jones called Antonio and asked him about me. I'm pretty sure Antonio told him good things and Butch Jones trusted Antonio's words."

Jones said he did a thorough check of Thompkins' background before offering him a scholarship.

"He's a person who's very, very hungry for success," Jones said. "He's embraced everything that we've challenged him with."

Thompkins has been dealing with a back injury that has slowed him during spring practice, and Jones says he's a little rusty from not playing last year, but Thompkins is eager to show what he can do next fall.

"I want my teammates to look in my eyes and know that Kenbrell is going to war," Thompkins said. "That's the mentality that I want to bring to this offense."

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20110...RONTPAGE|s

I can't wait to see Kenbrell suit up

I read his twitter posts from time to time.

He seems like a good guy who is well liked by his teammates