Latest Recruit Took Measured Approach to Utes
Marshall Henderson took a particularly studied approach to deciding he wanted to join the Utes after his standout high school career at L.D. Bell High School in suburban Dallas.
According to his father and coach, the sharp-shooting combo guard whittled all of the scholarship offers he had received down to six favorites. In part because his mother works for American Airlines and enjoys discounted airfares, Henderson was able to visit all six schools -- Marquette, Bradley, Gonzaga, Notre Dame, Stanford and Utah -- before creating a list of 16 questions focused on things that were important to him in a college choice.
From there, the 6-foot-1 Henderson ranked each of the six schools according to how well they answered each question, and "Utah kind of kept coming up as the top one," father Willie Henderson said. It didn't hurt that the Utes have a good football program; the younger Henderson is a big football fan, and wanted to go out of state for college.
"Believe it or not, that had a lot to do with it," his father said, especially because some of his other candidates don't have football at all.
The result is that the Utes have landed their second recruit in the 2009 class, after 6-foot-10 center Jeremy Olsen of suburban Atlanta. That leaves them two open spots in that class, and they're still pursuing Lone Peak's Tyler Haws, whom they envision being able to play alongside Henderson and the other guards who still will be in the program then, including Luka Drca and Carlon Brown, as well as incoming freshmen Jordan Cyphers, Jace Tavita and Chris Hines.
Henderson has averaged at least 20 points and made more than 100 three-pointers in each of his three high school seasons so far -- he averaged 24.9 points last season for a 15-15 team that made the Class 5-A playoffs but lost to powerful Duncanville -- and his deep shooting ability "is what put him on the map," his father said.
And don't think that Henderson might only contribute to the Utes on the basketball court. He's "great friends" with teammate Josh Mauro, a 6-foot-6 defensive end who's being recruited for football by Utah's Kyle Whittingham.
According to his father and coach, the sharp-shooting combo guard whittled all of the scholarship offers he had received down to six favorites. In part because his mother works for American Airlines and enjoys discounted airfares, Henderson was able to visit all six schools -- Marquette, Bradley, Gonzaga, Notre Dame, Stanford and Utah -- before creating a list of 16 questions focused on things that were important to him in a college choice.
From there, the 6-foot-1 Henderson ranked each of the six schools according to how well they answered each question, and "Utah kind of kept coming up as the top one," father Willie Henderson said. It didn't hurt that the Utes have a good football program; the younger Henderson is a big football fan, and wanted to go out of state for college.
"Believe it or not, that had a lot to do with it," his father said, especially because some of his other candidates don't have football at all.
The result is that the Utes have landed their second recruit in the 2009 class, after 6-foot-10 center Jeremy Olsen of suburban Atlanta. That leaves them two open spots in that class, and they're still pursuing Lone Peak's Tyler Haws, whom they envision being able to play alongside Henderson and the other guards who still will be in the program then, including Luka Drca and Carlon Brown, as well as incoming freshmen Jordan Cyphers, Jace Tavita and Chris Hines.
Henderson has averaged at least 20 points and made more than 100 three-pointers in each of his three high school seasons so far -- he averaged 24.9 points last season for a 15-15 team that made the Class 5-A playoffs but lost to powerful Duncanville -- and his deep shooting ability "is what put him on the map," his father said.
And don't think that Henderson might only contribute to the Utes on the basketball court. He's "great friends" with teammate Josh Mauro, a 6-foot-6 defensive end who's being recruited for football by Utah's Kyle Whittingham.
posted by www.sltrib.com @ 5:33 AM |
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