De'Angelo Henderson, the prize of Coastal Carolina's 2011 football recruiting class, has finally made it to campus.
Henderson, who put up eye-popping numbers at Summerville High School, got delayed by the NCAA Clearinghouse and was not able to join the Chanticleers last season. But he is enrolled in classes at Coastal this semester, CCU associate athletic director for media relations Mike Cawood confirmed Tuesday.
Reached by phone Tuesday afternoon, Henderson said he received some late interest from schools in the Mid-American Conference and Conference USA once he was finally cleared, but he never wavered on his desire to come to Coastal.
"I tell you what, I'm one happy person to finally be on campus, finally get everything going, get back in the flow of playing ball again and working on getting my degree," he said.
Henderson explained that the NCAA Clearinghouse didn't recognize one of his math courses from Summerville because the class had a different name than what the NCAA was used to seeing. He says he just had to wait for the two sides to sort out the confusion, and then he had to retake the SAT and ACT exams because he needed higher test scores to couple with his grade-point average.
"It shocked me really," Henderson said of the confusion over his math credits. "I thought everything was good. I was told I was cleared from my high school coaches, so when all that happened it was like 'Wow.' It hit me by surprise, but when it happened, the good Lord took me under his wing. I wasn't supposed to play last year. He sat me down and everything worked out for a reason."
Henderson, who was listed at 5-foot-9 and 190 pounds when he committed to Coastal, rushed for 2,407 yards and 27 touchdowns in 251 carries as a senior at Summerville while catching 18 passes for 387 yards and four touchdowns. He was rated a three-star prospect (out of five) by Rivals.com.
Despite having to sit out last season, Summerville coach John McKissick -- the winningest high school football coach in the country -- expects Henderson to make a significant impact at Coastal.
"He's the kind that would stay in shape. He'd exercise, he'd run, he'd lift weights," McKissick said. "He's probably the best running back I've coached since I've been here in 60 years. He can block, he can catch passes, he breaks tackles and he's got good speed. They've got a good one in him."
Henderson went to watch the Chants play at Charleston Southern last season and said he never thought about going elsewhere after Coastal replaced longtime coach David Bennett with Joe Moglia last month.
"I understand college football is a business and stuff like that happens," he said. "I was committed 100 percent."
Even as other schools started to show late interest. He said he talked with East Carolina and acknowledged there was interest from the MAC also, though he wouldn't reveal which schools.
"Some of the schools were contacting me and asking me stuff ... but I wanted to be here," he said. "I talked to them, but I wanted to be here."
Henderson will be a true freshman next season and is eligible to practice with the Chants this spring. He attended the team meeting Monday as Moglia met with the players for the first time.
"I met the new head coach and a few of the guys that he already hired," Henderson said. "The new coach, he sounds like he's all business, and I can't wait to get back on the field and show everybody what I can do."
| Ryan Young, ryoung@thesunnews.com
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