| John Henson |
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| Basic Per Game Statistics - Comprehensive Stats - Statistical Top 25s |
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| Nike Hoop Summit, High School Prospects
April 16, 2009
Though Henson didn't really get a ton of minutes or touches considering his talent, he still managed to make a solid impact in the game, and show off excellent potential in a number of areas. The future Tar Heel showed excellent off the ball movement on multiple occasions, and his movement lead to a couple of easy dunks, one of them an impressive alley-oop. He also appeared to be quite active inside, making a good effort to rebound the ball despite his lack of strength, and gathering 5 offensive rebounds, which lead to a couple easy put-backs.
Physically, Henson has a similar build to that of a high school Kevin Durant, with a frame that will take significant time to add any type of bulk to. On the other hand, he has an impressive vertical leap, runs the court quite well, and he does play tougher than he looks.
Skill-wise, the forward likes to face the basket at this point, showing solid ball-handling ability and court-vision to go with a smooth-looking perimeter jumper. He also has very nice touch around the basket, and can knock in a hook shot with either hand from the low post. Down the road, Henson may see time at both forward spots, and could potentially develop into a mismatch nightmare if he completes both his perimeter and low post games.
Henson should get the minutes to prove himself next season for North Carolina, and has an excellent set of tools to work with as well. If he finds a way to add some strength and continues to round out his skills next season, it wouldn't be out of the question to see him develop into a very high draft pick.
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Player Evaluations, McDonald’s All-American Game (West Team)
April 3, 2009
Henson (#3 Scout, #6 Rivals, #3 ESPN) had a strong showing this past week, putting his strengths and weaknesses on full display, and showing why some analysts consider him to have the most upside of any prospect in the 2009 high school senior class.
As we’ve discussed in the past, Henson is an incredibly physically gifted player thanks to his great size, nice athleticism, and freakishly long arms. The main drawback is his very poor frame, which may hinder his development somewhat early on, particularly his extremely skinny legs.
Regardless, Henson is a tantalizing prospect, as he has budding perimeter skills you typically don’t see from a 6-10 player, and also is obviously a great kid with excellent intangibles as you’ll be able to see in the interview below. His ball-handling skills and soft shooting touch (mostly from mid-range) are very intriguing attributes, and he also seems to have excellent instincts on the defensive end as well, showing excellent shot-blocking instincts, and seemingly getting his hands on every ball that in his area if strength isn’t a factor.
Henson needs to be careful not to try and become too much of a perimeter player. One of the reasons he’s so interesting is his ability to operate as a mismatch threat as a dynamic face-up power forward, a position that is very much en vogue in today’s NBA, and he shows great potential for with his terrific length and athleticism. It may take him a little bit longer to develop as his body slowly fills out, but he’s obviously someone that scouts will follow intently from day one at the college level.
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Initial Scouting Reports, High School Class of 2009 (Top 10 recruits)
July 28, 2008
One of the more intriguing big men prospects in attendance, John Henson (#4 Scout, #5 Rivals, #16 ESPN) may not have been the most productive player in Vegas, but he definitely showed some of the best potential.
Standing 6-10, incredibly skinny but with an outstanding wingspan, Henson will be drawing comparisons to all the usual big men out of Texas—Chris Bosh, LaMarcus Aldridge and Anthony Randolph, and for good reason. He’s super athletic, running the floor with ease, explosive off his feet, and with a very quick first step, but also shows a budding skill level facing the basket and an excellent feel for the game, which makes him all the more intriguing.
Henson isn’t strong enough to hold a spot on the block and play in the post, although he can finish around the hoop with a dunk or a nifty move with either hand (his extension around the basket is fantastic)—so he prefers to operate on the perimeter at this point. He has shaky range all the way out the 3-point line, and can even pull up off the dribble from mid-range, although we’re pretty sure Roy Williams won’t want him doing that anytime soon at Carolina next year.
He did drop some gorgeous glimpses of potential in the form of crafty pivot moves starting from the perimeter and finishing right at the rim, and seems to have semi-decent ball-handling skills for a player his size to compliment his excellent first step. His passing skills look excellent from what we saw in the two games we took in, particularly on the interior. It’s great to see a big man with such a developed feel for the game considering how raw he is offensively, and you could clearly see that his intangibles are solid and that his teammates enjoy playing with him.
Henson looks very off-balance at times with his moves, which is a product of his lack of strength combined with his lack of experience and offensive polish. He still has a long ways to go before being able to execute the moves he tries at times on a consistent basis, which is why he’d be best off not falling in love with his perimeter game so fast. We saw him take some highly questionable shots at times, showing poor decision making in the process. This is something he’ll have to clean up at the collegiate level.
Defensively, Henson plays hard and looks inclined to compete, but he’s extremely limited by his lack of strength, which is a real hindrance at this point. His length gives him the ability to be very disruptive in the paint once, but he gets pushed around too easily to be a consistent shot-blocking threat at this stage in his development.
All in all, we’re talking about a guy who obviously has a lot to work on, but clearly has a great base of natural tools and skills to build off as well. The NBA likes these new-age hybrid 4’s who are athletic mismatches facing the basket, and that might be the mold Henson falls into in time. He looks like a solid bet to develop into something special if he continues to work hard, but we’ll have to continue to monitor his progress over the next few years.
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