Henderson Makes Tour of Four ACC Schools

Several players in the class of 2005 are making official visits, and some are even making verbal commitments. That doesn’t mean prospects in the class of 2006 are sitting back and watching the action from home. Gerald Henderson, a 6-foot-4, 195-pound shooting guard from Philadelphia’s Episcopal Academy, made the trip to the state of North Carolina with his father and tour four ACC programs.

Henderson and his father, Gerald, Sr., took a two-day trip and visited Duke, North Carolina, NC State and Wake Forest.

“It was a good trip. We had a chance to see four schools down there unofficially,” the elder Henderson said. “We wanted to see the campuses and what they provided academically. Those couple of days went well.”

As one of the top guards in the junior class, it comes as no surprise that the elite programs are trying to make an early impression. According to Mr. Henderson, that mission was accomplished.

“He liked all four schools and liked what he saw,” Henderson said. “I think he was struck by the coliseum at North Carolina. That was a great place. All of the coaches seemed to be very astute and very good basketball coaches. They seemed to be genuine and appreciated his skills.”

With things going well, many wonder if Henderson, the No. 18 ranked player in the class of 2006 by Rivals.com, returned home with a couple of scholarship offers.

“I’ll just say this, they all expressed that they would like for him to play at their schools,” Henderson said.

The unofficial visits were Henderson’s first. The timing was perfect, says dad.

“We wanted to go out before his junior year because it’s important to do that and get an idea about what’s out there,” Henderson said. “He’ll now be able to see what’s next.”