Donnie Jenkins has been a winner everywhere he coached. Born in 1942 at Lenoir City, Tennessee, Jenkins graduated from Lenoir City High School in 1961, attended Hiwassee Junior College, and earned his B.S. from Berry College in 1965. Jenkins began his coaching career at Dalton High School in Dalton, Georgia, in 1965, where he first served as assistant coach. He became head basketball coach in 1967 and compiled a two-year record of 37-18. Both of those seasons, Jenkins was selected as 5-AAA “Coach of the Year.” In 1970 Jenkins returned to Hiwassee Junior College, his alma mater, to assume the position of head basketball coach and athletic director. From 1970 to 1984 Coach Jenkins’ teams compiled a record of 275 wins and 114 losses for an awesome .708 winning percentage. His teams at Hiwassee qualified for regional play nine times during his fourteen seasons, winning Region VII on two occasions and finishing fourth in the national tournament in 1981. After his illustrious career at Hiwassee, Jenkins became the principal at Madisonville High School. His long record of excellence in athletics earned him the Junior College/Community College Achievement Award from the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 1989.
