LJS
Wide receiver Will Henry thrived in an offense that his coach said is probably more complicated than systems used by most high school teams. At J.M. Hanks High in El Paso, Texas, head coach Jeff Cleveland teaches a no-huddle spread attack that frequently puts the quarterback in a shotgun formation and utilizes four wideouts. Plays are called from the sideline with hand signals, words and numbers. The offense’s complexity should help Henry next season during his transition to Nebraska’s intricate West Coast attack.
“I’m telling you, this guy is light years ahead of most high school kids in terms of understanding the passing game,” Cleveland said.
The 6-foot-6, 195-pound Henry on Sunday gave Nebraska a verbal commitment to accept a scholarship offer, turning down offers from Texas-El Paso, Texas Tech, Missouri and New Mexico State. Baylor and Stanford also were making late pushes.
Henry said he had planned a recruiting visit next week to Texas Tech.
“I’m going to cancel it,” he said.
Nebraska wide receivers coach Ted Gilmore played the lead role in Henry’s recruitment, though the entire Husker staff impressed him.
“The main thing that drew me to Nebraska was the coaches,” Henry said. “A lot of them could become head coaches someday.”
Henry recorded 56 receptions for 927 yards and 12 touchdowns as J.M. Hanks finished with a 5-5 record this past season. Although he has run a 4.46-second 40-yard dash, he received only a one-star ranking from Scout.com (out of a possible five) and a two-star rating from Rivals.com.
Advertisement
“I know that everybody looks at Rivals.com and Scout.com,” Cleveland said. “But these coaches — Bill Callahan (of Nebraska), Mike Leach (of Texas Tech), Mike Price (of Texas-El Paso) and Hal Mumme (of New Mexico State) — know the game. They don’t need to look at Rivals.com and Scout.com to know when they need to recruit a kid.”
The fact El Paso is somewhat off the recruiting radar screen in Texas led to Henry’s low rankings by the recruiting Web sites, Cleveland said.
It’s been suggested that Henry is a “raw talent,” in need of further development before being ready to contribute at the Division I-A level.
“I wouldn’t term him as ‘raw,’ ” Cleveland said. “I would term him as a guy with a tremendous amount of upside. Will Henry will go to the University of Nebraska and bust his butt every day. He’ll go to class, he’ll become a great member of your community, and he’ll become a stud (on the field).”
Henry, an A-minus student, becomes the third wide receiver known to have pledged to Nebraska’s 2006 scholarship class, joining 6-3, 210-pound Menelik Holt of San Diego and 6-4, 210-pound Maurice Purify, a transfer from City College of San Francisco. All three are expected to join the team this summer.
Tyrell Spain, a 6-3, 190-pound wideout from San Diego, has enrolled in classes at Nebraska this semester and will participate in spring drills after attending Southeast Community College in Lincoln this past fall to gain eligibility. He originally signed with NU a year ago out of Mesa (Calif.) College.
Nebraska will have several experienced wide receivers on its 2006 roster, including Nate Swift (45 receptions for 641 yards in 2005), Terrence Nunn (43-495), Grant Mulkey (26-271), Frantz Hardy (25-349) and Todd Peterson (9-150).
Henry will fit in well at Nebraska, said Cleveland, who during a decade as an assistant high school coach in the Dallas-Fort Worth area helped develop no fewer than 12 eventual Division I-A players.
“People ask me, ‘Is there a downside to Will?’ ” Cleveland said. “I don’t know if there is.”
Henry is the 22nd player overall known to have joined Nebraska’s class of 2006. The Huskers could add up to three or four more commitments considering some players won’t qualify academically or receive scholarships immediately.
Briefly
Nebraska picked up stiff competition this week in its bid to land Garrett Green, a 6-2, 190-pound quarterback from Sherman Oaks, Calif. Southern California on Thursday extended a scholarship offer to Green, who visited the Los Angeles campus this past weekend. He’s also considering offers from Texas A&M and UCLA.