Former Wayne State Wildcat star basketball player Kendall Jacks recently signed a contract to start his professional basketball career in Portugal. Jacks will be playing for Futbol Clube Barreirenese, under coach Joao Cardoso this upcoming season. The team is based in Barreiro, Portugal. They play in the top division of Portugal, Portugal LPB, after winning the second division last season.

Jacks was a star guard at Wayne State from 2014-19. He has many accolades to back that up. His freshman season he was named WSC Male Freshman Athlete of the Year. Jacks was the team’s Most Valuable Player his sophomore year also being named All-NSIC Second Team.

His junior season he was also named team MVP being named NSIC Honorable mention. For his senior campaign, he scored in double figures 30 out of 31 games played. With that, he averaged 16.1 points, and five rebounds per game.

The 6’4” basketball standout was named to First Team All-NSIC. He led his team to a share of the regular season Northern Sun South Division title for the first time in over 20 years with a 21-11 record. For his efforts, he was also named Team MVP and Wayne State Male Athlete of The Year. Jacks finished his career second all time in points scored for the Wildcats with 1,626, and third all time in field goals with 619.

Jacks was a proven leader on and off the court during his tenure at Wayne State.

“Kendall was more than a basketball player, he goes of his way to help his teammates in any way possible,” said WSC teammate Nosa Iyagbaye. “His work ethic was a big part of his career, he worked really hard everyday on and off the court.”

“I think my experience as a leader at WSC will carry over and allow me to have a similar role no matter where I go,” Jacks said. “The biggest challenge right now is going to be language. Luckily the staff knows English, but there’s still gaps sometimes. Being able to adjust is going to come along with more time.”

Jacks is eager to get started with his new team and begin his professional career.

Jacks’ family and friends are anxious for his new journey and they are excited to see what lays ahead for the basketball star.

“We’re going to miss him being here with us so much, but we know he’s going to do great things,” said Jacks’ long-time girlfriend Ashley Myers. “We are all planning to visit in the near future and can’t wait to cheer him on and watch his games online! We can’t wait to watch him shine and show Portugal just what a Wayne State Wildcat is made of!”

Jacks departed the United States for Portugal this past Sunday, and will begin practice with the team next Monday.