KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -Guard C.J. Henry officially enrolled at Kansas on Tuesday and will be eligible to play next season.
The move reunites Henry with his brother, Xavier, and completes one of the most talented incoming classes Kansas ever had.
“We’ve been waiting to announce C.J. and are proud to formally do it today,” said coach Bill Self, who has been recruiting C.J. since 2004.
Self said the 6-foot-4 Henry will be an immediate contributor despite not having played organized basketball for four years. The Jayhawks were Big 12 champions this season and will be among the preseason favorites for the NCAA title in 2009-10.
The Jayhawks return every major contributor from last season’s team, including guard Sherron Collins and center Cole Aldrich. The Henry brothers join incoming freshmen Elijah Johnson and Thomas Robinson, and Jeff Withey, a 6-11 transfer from Arizona who will be eligible following the fall semester.
C.J. played baseball in the New York Yankees’ farm system for three years but enrolled at Memphis last year. Xavier, a high school senior last season, had signed with Memphis, but both decided to play elsewhere when coach John Calipari left the Tigers for Kentucky.
“We’ve known C.J. and his family for years and although it took a while, we are glad to have him here,” Self said.
Xavier, a 6-6 swingman considered among the nation’s very best prospects, signed a grant-in-aid in April to play at Kansas. He had originally signed with Memphis because he wanted to play with his older brother.
Now they will both play for the school where their mother, father and aunt all played basketball.
“All Kansas fans should be very excited to have not one, but two second-generation Jayhawks in our program,” Self said.
C.J. Henry was a non-scholarship freshman at Memphis last season but did not play because of a broken foot. He verbally committed to Kansas in 2005, but signed with the Yankees after getting taken in the first round of the baseball draft.
“C.J. is a point guard who can really shoot the basketball,” Self said. “His absence from competition from basketball for four years will be a transition for him, but he has always kept a ball in his hands over that period of time.
Self said. “Our biggest concern presently is for C.J. to get 100 percent healthy.”
At Putnam City High School in Oklahoma City, C.J. Henry averaged 23.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.4 steals as a senior in 2005.
Carl Henry, Xavier and C.J.’s father, led Kansas in scoring in 1983 with a 17.4 average. He was an All-Big Eight selection as a senior and averaged 16.8 points. Their mother, Barbara Henry, was a four-year letterwinner from 1982-85.
Barbara’s sister, Vickie Adkins Summers, ranks fourth on Kansas’ career scoring list and was All-Big Eight for three years beginning in 1984.
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