The Curious Case of Andre Henley

To be called the best basketball player in the state of Illinois, let alone the city of Chicago, is one of the most prestigious honors a high school basketball player could get. Out of any one concentrated area in the whole United States, Chicago produces the most Division 1 basketball players. Even though Indiana, California, or Texas may have more players per year come out, no city in the world has more come out than Chicago. Such is the case this upcoming year with around 30 high school seniors that will receive a scholarship from a Division 1 school to play basketball. So to be called the best or one of the best in the city typically means that you are the best in the state as well.  Schools from all around the country come to Chicago for the chance to get one of these players. The best ones will end up at blue blood schools like Duke, North Carolina, or Kentucky to name a few. So why would a self proclaimed "best player in Illinois" be unsigned at this point? Why is his name unknown and why his recruitment as tantalizing as Kristy Alley in a bikini?

His name is Andre Henley, or Dre Henley. A couple years ago, his name was near the top of the list of best sophomores in the state of Illinois. At De La Salle Institute, Henley was a budding star with the likes of PF Mike Shaw (6-8, 220, signed with Illinois, class of 2011) and PG Derek Needham (5-11, 165 lbs, signed with Fairfield, class of 2009). Henley played for the best AAU team in the state of Illinois, Mac Irvin Fire, which seems to be a revolving door for high school athletes into college. At this point, former Kentucky head coach, Billy Gillispie, had offered Henley a scholarship. As a sophomore, the future looked brighter than ever. From De La Salle, Henley took his talents to Carbondale at Brehm Prep, a powerhouse high school in southern Illinois. Each year, this high school pumps out at least two D-I basketball players. The allure of this prep school would seem to catapult his basketball career higher than he could imagine. When he set foot on campus, the big fish in a small pond all of a sudden was fighting for a starting spot on the team. Despite his talent and skill at his position, Henley did not make the transition he had hoped. Becoming the first or second man off the bench was not what he and other colleges had in mind. Some offers continued to roll in from schools like Marquette, Iowa State, and Illinois. Once Gillispie was let go as head coach and Callipari was hired, that scholarship was no longer on the table and this once promising player was falling out of the limelight and soon to be forgotten.

"Other than you, who do you think is the best player in Illinois right now?", "Other than me, I mean, I know I'm the best, that's the truth, that's just me bein' real, but if I had to say..." was the response by Henley when asked in an interview about his status atop Illinois' best basketball players.The players he listed, other than himself, was fellow AAU teammates, Wayne Blackshear (signed with Louisville, class of 2011) and Mike Shaw. Blackshear, as talk about in previous blog posts, is arguably Mr. Basketball in the state of Illinois and Shaw is one of the marquee recruits the University of Illinois is pulling in for next year. Henley's claim was not completely out of the realm, SLAM Magazine had a feature article in 2009 about the rising stardom that was Dre Henley.  Now, being self confident is one thing, I could say I'm the Lee Tolstoy of blogging, but we all know that is not the case. So is this Henley tooting his own horn parading his case as the best like Carol Moseley Braun thinking that she is the best mayoral candidate? Or, could this be one of the best players in Illinois that no one is talking about?

Henley transferred back to De La Salle this year to be apart of what currently ranks as the #4 team in the state of Illinois. This time, he is overshadowed by the play of Mike Shaw and up and coming stars such as So PF Alex Foster (6-8, 210 lbs, considering Purdue, DePaul, and Illinois) and So PG Jaylon Tate (6-1, 170 lbs, offered from Illinois, Purdue and DePaul looking). In a game earlier this year at Hales Franciscan High School, one of the commentators said that despite the accolades of Foster and Shaw, both of whom will be attending major D-1 programs as immediate contributors, Henley was the best player for De La Salle. The reasoning behind this was the consistent play of Henley, rather than the erratic play of Shaw of one moment treating opponents as puppets on a string having his way with him, and then the next moment pulling a Houdini act and disappearing on the court. Watching Henley, he seemed effortless going up and down the court making great passes, breaking up passing lanes, and finishing at the rim. Although he is not blessed with explosiveness, his game could lull you to sleep how swiftly he plays the game.

At 6-6, 225 lbs, Henley has the perfect game for a small forward. He's quick on his feet, he can hit the mid-range shot with consistency, he can drive to the basket, and he has long arms the makes him a very good defender. He is not the best ball handler, but for his size, can dribble as good as anyone at that height. Several times during games this year for De La Salle and last year for Brehm Prep, Henley would take the ball up the court like a point guard typically would. He won't jump out of the gym but can finish at the rim with ease. Although he can hit the mid-range shot, at times, the shot could look flat, which may have to do more with poor conditioning rather than bad mechanics. The problem with Henley is that he is good at everything, but not great at them. He needs work at all aspects of his game, but the skills that he does possess right now are good enough to get him a scholarship. The potential is there for Henley, but the problem is the potential often leads to 'did not live up to what he should have been'. Mark Prior had potential to be great, but never was. The Miami Heat had the potential this year to break the Chicago Bulls regular season record from 1996 for most wins, but never did. Could potential be the word that describes the rest of Henley's career, or will we find this young small forward on NBA draft boards in years to come?

From the top, to irrelevant, Henley's future has not yet been decided. Andre Henley could turn out to be an impact freshman next year at some college basketball program, or he could get less playing time in his collegiate career than the water boy. It is not typical for a player to be on the rise like Henley was only to fall down the recruiting charts to unknown. This is an obvious red flag for colleges and most likely the reason for Iowa State and Marquette to not aggressively go after Henley like they once did. Is there a happy ending to this story? Henley's senior campaign at De La Salle is much improved from his play last year at Brehm Prep. He is one of the leading scorers on the team, but continues to fly under the radar as the regular season comes to a close. As rare as it was for Anthony Davis (Sr. PF 6-10, 220, signed with Kentucky) to come from complete unknown last April to one of the best high school basketball players in the country this last August, Henley's fall from grace has been just as remarkable, but unnoticed. Can he turn it around and make a difference for a major program next year, or will Henley's story end with a disappointing splat of mediocrity and irrelevancy. Only Andre Henley will decide if he is the best prospect from Illinois like he thinks he once was.