The Seantrel Henderson recruiting drama continues to be bizarre. The 6-foot-8 offensive tackle from Cretin-Derham Hall played in a basketball game in the Howard Pulley pro-am league Tuesday night rather than report to the University of Southern California last week, as was planned.
Henderson, who said he's up to 350 pounds (and appears to weigh at least that much), was surprisingly light on his feet getting up and down the floor and showed a nice touch with the ball. But he's clearly playing basketball for fun. He is, though, a football player who will have to lose weight wherever he ends up playing.
USC coach Lane Kiffin and three members of his staff took a private jet to the Twin Cities on Monday to try to persuade Henderson to keep his commitment to the NCAA-penalized school. When asked about USC on Tuesday night, Henderson was in no mood to discuss his status.
It's beginning to look like Henderson, understandably, could be having second thoughts about Kiffin and USC, which cannot play in bowl games the next two seasons while losing 30 scholarships over the next three years.
A little birdie says Henderson was assured by Kiffin during the recruiting process that USC would not receive any serious penalties from the NCAA.
Miami and Ohio State were Henderson's other finalists before USC was so harshly penalized. The problem for Henderson, though, is that he signed with the Trojans, and he would have to sit out a transfer year if he does not follow through with his commitment.
The guess here is that Kiffin's jet ride back to California wasn't a comfortable one.
OVERHEARD
Henderson, asked about his status with USC: "I don't want to talk about that."