Jessie Henderson

[1411]

Paris, TX. HB Jessie Henderson has been offered by the 'Stangs and spent last Friday morning with Coach Bennett and Coach Roark looking over the facilities. Keep an eye out on this one!

[Recruiting Guru]

If SMU can somehow land Henderson, the Ponies will have themselves a jewel of a runner. He's not terribly big (he's listed everywhere from 5-8 to 5-10, although he looks like he's closer to the 5-8 listing). Last I checked he weighed in at 165 pounds, and has been clocked at 4.28 in the 40. He made headlines last year when he ran for nearly 230 yards in one HALF of a game as a junior. I've seen him play, and he's a very elusive runner. He's more effective between the tackles than you might think, because he has a remarkable ability to stop on a dime and accelerate very quickly. He's pretty strong for a smaller back, and if he gets a step on the defense, forget it — he's gone. He changes direction very well, which allows him to make defenders miss, and has good hands. Needs to get stronger to be a more effective blocker, but with the ball in his hands, he's extremely dangerous. Can return punts and kickoffs, too.

[PerunaPunch]

I'll say he's dangerous! District 11-4A Return specialist of the year and First-Team Running Back as a junior. Not bad!

[dandyfan]

having seen jesse since he was in jr. high, i can vouch for the speed. i saw him as a 7th grader timed at 10.71 in the 100 meters.(i still think that might have been timed a little fast) i know he started on his varsity as freshman. i think he may have had an injury or two in the past to limit some of his playing time. top notch athlete!! that would be a great get for smu and another east texas athlete for the bennett brothers.

[Casey]

I can support everything dandyfan said. Henderson is so much faster than his opponents each week it's scary. If opposing teams didn't gear their defenses almost exclusively to stopping him, he'd set all kinds of records. If Coach Jerry can get this guy, he'll become a recruiting legend.

[1411]

Crabby did a Rivals update on Jessie this morning. Check out the OU site or the Texas Prep Xtra site.

[ClassOf81]

Do you have a link to the articles?
Or can you copy and paste them here?
Thanks

[Sonic]

Can someone with access to the site cut and paste the article here?

[Thumper]

Jessie can run, alright. I think he's going to get some attention from some really big schools, but if we could get him to commit early .... the stable of RBs would be stocked for years. Nice work by the coaches, with or without him. But he'd be a nice addition. The kid can really motor.

[Dark Horse]

Is SMU still the only school that's offered Henderson? (1411 - do you know?)

Did anyone ever find the Rivals story? Can someone copy and post it here?

[1411]

SMU and Kansas. He did just run a 4.31/40 at the Nike camp in College Station (which was reportedly the fastest time of the day) despite a badly strained left hamstring.

[Pony Up]

A 4.31 with a bad hamstring?

One word: WOW.

Maybe that's bad news, since more schools will probably take notice, if they hadn't already.4

[HorsePower]

I read where Henderson was his district's Return Specialist of the Year, in addition to his prowess as a running back. Sounds valuable and versatile.

[Buddha]

I read where Jessie has Oklahoma and SMU as his co-leaders. He's also thinking about Arkansas, Iowa, Colorado, LSU and North Carolina.

[Corso]

Rivals is now reporting that Arkansas is creeping up on SMU and Oklahoma as Henderson's leaders.