TreVeyon Henderson: Nation’s No. 2 RB considers UGA one of his ‘top schools’
Want to attack every day with the latest UGA football recruiting info? That’s what the Intel brings. This entry will profile 5-star RB prospect TreVeyon Henderson out of Virginia. He rates as the nation’s No. 2 overall RB prospect for 2021 on the 247Sports Composite ratings.
There are many places the TreVeyon (sounds like: Tre-Vey-on) Henderson story could go. Kind of like the way he sorts through the holes he darts through on the field.
Let’s start with an unorthodox entry. It is the sort of thing the 5-star recruit feels like separates himself from other high-level recruits.
“I do my research,” he said. “That’s why I think this recruiting stuff and all this pressure is not too hard. You see, maybe most recruits, they don’t do their research. They just commit to a school because of the hype and the name of it.”
Henderson had a lot of interesting things to say across a wide-ranging interview. This conversation thread right here topped the list: “I ask all the coaches the tough questions,” he said.
In his mind, that simplifies the recruiting process. He also offered up an example of one of those TreVeyon questions.
“Can you send me a stat sheet of all your running backs?”
That’s what he will say. He hits that topic hard since he is a running back. He knows about the shelf life of carries for a back at the college and pro level. He realizes if he gets overworked, then that will take away from his ability to attain generational wealth as a professional.
How do the coaches respond in kind? They don’t hit the hole hard with that requested stat sheet.
“Most coaches will beat around the bush and stuff like that,” he said.
Henderson impresses. He says he is about 5 feet, 11 inches tall. He’s probably a little taller than that, but he sees no need to embellish that.
It is the sort of thing to expect from him, though.
He scored 53 touchdowns and stacked up 3,000 all-purpose yards as a high school junior. That is exactly what a back who rates as the nation’s No. 2 RB and No. 17 overall prospect on the 247Sports Composite should have done on the field.
The prospect resume here will only get better, though.
Henderson was a two-way player for a 15-0 state championship team. He will even pair those on-field bona fides with an impeccable academic record. He has made all As in high school.
He’s well-schooled in the recruiting process because he got to live it. His older brother, Ronnie Walker, was the nation’s No. 19 RB prospect in the 2018 class. Walker chose Indiana over interest in a host of elite schools, but his name is now in the transfer portal.
“By him going through the process I was always with him on the visits and stuff,” Henderson said. “So I got to see how the recruiting process works at an early age before I started going through the recruiting process. It helped me out a lot to this day with my decision and things like that.”
TreVeyon Henderson: Assessing Georgia’s chances
When he drops his top schools, expect Georgia to be in there. That’s how much he enjoyed his first visit to UGA back in January.
“The visit was great,” he said. “Just seeing how Dell McGee plays his running backs was key. He doesn’t believe in getting his running backs beat up. A lot of running backs get touches at Georgia. A lot of running backs from there go to the NFL.”
“They’re not just winning at Georgia on the football field. They’ve got great academics, too.”
He sees the need to check out UGA again. Look for him to take at least one more unofficial visit.
“Georgia is definitely one of my top schools,” he said. “One of my top schools is Georgia. I think when I drop my top schools it is definitely going to shock a lot of people.”
How so?
“Just by the research I’ve done,” he said. “They are just going to see. Most schools that expect to be on there, they will see it.”
It is highly impressive to see what he did with his junior year. He only started to get showcased as a RB due to a pair of injuries to the starters in his backfield when he was a sophomore at Hopewell High in Virginia.
He’s a punishing defensive back on film, but Henderson made it clear he aims to be a running back at the next level.
The motivation for TreVeyon Henderson
There’s a line atop his Twitter page. It pretty much sums up what pumps inside his gas tank.
“What motivates me to be great is just the stuff that I went through,” he said. “About my Mom. Seeing my mom struggle. Not being able to afford some things. Things like that. It just made me want to go harder on the field. Get up out of here where I am at. Because where I am at is not a good place to stay.”
“So it just makes me go harder to get up out of here. To take care of my mom and stuff.”
The Virginia native came to that conclusion for his life when he was six years old.
He’s been thinking of doing something with his life to support his mother Lakeesha Hayes since he was in elementary school.
Henderson played mostly as a defensive back as a freshman. The same trend continued for his sophomore year until late in the year.
“That’s when both of our running backs got injured,” he said. “So I kept telling them to put me at running back because that was the position I used to play. They ended up putting me at running back. I scored one game-winning touchdown against a team we haven’t beaten in years. It was like 80 yards and then I scored another touchdown.”
Colleges started noticing him then as a running back. He finished his sophomore year with 30 carries for 312 yards and five touchdowns. It was certainly a prelude for what was to come.
“If those guys don’t get hurt my sophomore year then I probably never would have gotten all these offers right now,” he said. “I used to think about that a lot.”
TreVeyon Henderson: His amazing junior film
There’s a part of presenting his story where his junior film just bullies its way into the picture.
A discussion of that reel is simply inevitable.
That film, his football DNA, is a marvel in its own right. It goes 15 minutes worth of playmaker gold. While watching it, a few concepts jump out.
While recruiters will be hamstrung under the NCAA’s new policies to control the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic, there’s no need to see Henderson this spring. It is clear what he can do.
Henderson is a game-wrecking tailback.
There is no need to check out all 82 plays of his highlight film to certify that. Really any three random clips will do.
The fourth one below, the one with the jump cut, pops out. The same can be said about the ninth highlight, too. If any coach needed to make it that far.
It will be the eye-opening 99-yard kickoff return. That play is bananas.
Here is the quickest possible summation of his Hopewell junior season. Look at it as the movie trailer version of his 15-minute highlight classic:
- The speed is evident. He just won the Virginia state championship in the 55 meters with a 6.48 time. Those wheels powered him to 2,424 yards and 12.2 yards per carry in 2019. He broke free for 45 rushing touchdowns along a perfect 15-0 state championship season.
- The film in and of itself is a marvel. He takes the ball about three to five yards deep in the backfield on most plays. There are 55 offensive plays from scrimmage on that 15:31 highlight tape. Those are all touchdowns, with five of those scores coming on pass receptions.
- To restate for clarity, this young man has a 15:31 highlight tape full of plays where he does not get tackled.
- That kickoff return covers 99 yards. He picks up the ball at the 1 with three would-be tacklers about to swallow him up at the 10. He trips and appears to get stuck in a briar patch of tacklers. Henderson emerges and also scores on that play. It is thrilling to see him emerge from that scrum.
- Henderson on that play: “Kick and punt returns are easy to me somewhat,” he said. “Because I get to scan the field. I think I started slipping on that play. Somebody tried to tackle me but I caught myself and ended up scoring.”
- There are several plays in here where he is literally kicking up dust from his heels as he surges for touchdowns.
- Henderson averages 37 yards per touchdown. The distance is skewed a bit by 16 scores from inside the 10-yard line. The first 42 touchdowns on his tape go far an average of 49 yards per play.
- This is exactly how a highlight tape creeps up to 931 seconds.
- If asked previously, I would have said not even the Reggie Bush or Noel Devine highlight tapes of legend would have been able to craft a reel this long without the prospect being tackled on a single play from scrimmage. Henderson has made that possible.
- Clemson actually pegged Henderson for a defensive back with its early evaluations. There are certainly plays here that merit that. He makes four interceptions on his junior film. It must be noted that the majority of the defensive snaps are indicative of a physical and fierce tackler.
speed ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/IrL3zHqbY6
— TreVeyon Henderson (@TreveyonH15) March 4, 2020
What is TreVeyon Henderson looking for in a school?
Henderson told DawgNation he has a list of top schools in mind. It will be approximately nine schools. He could drop that list now, but it sounds like he will wait a week. Maybe two.
When the time comes that prospects are allowed on college campuses again, he plans to take official visits to these four schools: Michigan, Ohio State Oklahoma and Texas.
He was going to visit the Sooners for their spring game.
The fifth official visit should be seen as up in the air. He knows he can go to the schools closer to his home for further unofficial visits. That is a common tactic.
There’s no need to use up an official on a trip he can easily manage by car.
“When I drop my top schools, my last visit is going to be one of my top schools,” he said.
He knows what he wants to see before he makes his college commitment.
“Relationships with coaches is important,” he said. “Because it helps you build trust. Trusting the coaches can be hard because everyone is telling you the same thing. But it is not just about football. It is about education and life after football. Things like that. That’s what I am looking for.”
“Most of these colleges talk about football. I’m like ‘Dang I have got to go to school, too.’ I can’t play football forever. My goal is to go to the NFL but I can’t play forever. Especially at my position. That is all-important to me and then the team fit. How it feels. A team has to be like a family to me.”
His last “B” was in middle school. That’s when he was already taking a high school science class. He’s looking to pursue a major in business.
The plan is to enroll early in January of 2021.
“I am going to enroll early, too,” he said. “That’s why I am going to commit during the summer.”
It could be earlier than that.
“It could be this summer or before the summer,” he said. “I am ready to drop my top schools soon, too. I’ve already got them, but I am just going to wait and drop them.”
big news next week, or the week after..
— TreVeyon Henderson (@TreveyonH15) March 13, 2020
A few more thoughts about Georgia
Henderson knows that Georgia coach Kirby Smart is a Georgia alum. He also recalls that Smart majored in business, too. Smart was a finance major during his time as a student-athlete.
“Georgia has great academics and a great football team,” Henderson said.
He was quick to point out what he likes best about the Bulldogs.
“It is the way they play,” he said. “They play aggressive.”
What stays with him about that January unofficial “Junior Day” visit?
“A lot of stuff sticks out from that visit,” he said. “I had fun there. Like sometimes when I go to schools it does not seem that interesting. But like Georgia definitely made it interesting. I had fun.”
He said that Georgia is also in the mix for an official visit.
“So say I end up committing to Georgia,” he said. “I will take my last official visit to Georgia during the season. So I am going to take another unofficial to Georgia.”
He wasn’t sure about that date. That conversation about the timing of that visit came before the NCAA mandated all on-campus and off-campus recruiting be placed on on pause until April 15.
“When I go I know I am going to be down there for a couple of days,” he said. “I am going to stay down there [at Georgia] for a couple of days.”
That first visit changed up his perception of Georgia a great deal.
“Yeah, it did,” he said. “Just finding out how the academics are there. How the program is there and things like that. Just getting a good feeling of it.”
Henderson said that Georgia running backs coach Dell McGee was recruiting him hard. It would be pretty hard not to after checking out that film.
“Every time I touch the ball I want to score,” Henderson said.
The Under Armour All-American Game commitment scored 58 touchdowns on his junior tape. That’s the one which is embedded above. That will include two punt returns and that one majestic kickoff return.
“My motive is to not let one man tackle me,” he said. “If it is a group tackle, then it is alright. I feel like if one man tackles me behind the line of scrimmage, then that is not good for me.”
