Kansas State commit Jordan Henriquez is headed to prep school.
The 6-foot-11, 220-pound big man out of Port Chester (N.Y.) High will spend next year playing for Mike Byrnes at the Winchendon (Mass.) School.
“Yes he is,” Byrnes said. “Jordan has been in summer school at the Winchendon School since July 3. He went home from summer school home this past Saturday and he’ll be back Sept. 7. He signed a Letter of Intent to go to Kansas State the following fall.
“He needs to get stronger. He came here to work on his core. He brought his core up over a 2.0 and did a nice job this summer.”
As a senior, Henriquez led Port Chester to an 18-6 record and an 8-0 mark in league play en route to a runner-up finish at the Section 1 championship. He averaged 15.3 points and scored in double-figures in 21 of 22 games. He posted six 20-point games, including a season-high 27 against Jay on Dec. 12. He also collected a season-best 14 blocked shots against North Rockland on Dec. 15. He was named second-team All-County and all-conference by the Tri-County Coaches Association.
Two players committed to Hofstra out of New York City, 6-1 shooting guard Yves Jules of Canarsie and 6-6 power forward David Imes of Brooklyn Boys & Girls, will also play at Winchendon, Byrnes said.
“Yves Jules of Canarsie and David Imes of Boys & Girls will attend,” he said. “They didn’t qualify at Hofstra.”
As previously reported here, 6-9 Turkish big man Enes Kanter will also play at Winchendon.
**In other prep school news, D.J. Richardson, a 6-3 guard out of Peoria, IL (pictured above) has decided to transfer to Findlay College Prep for his senior year. Richardson is verbally committed to Illinois and spent his last three years of high school at Peoria Central.
“It was my family’s idea,” Richardson told the Chicago Sun Times. “It’s because of the ACT. I had a good GPA, just not the ACT. I’m not far off. I just took it two times. I think I could do better. There is no reason to take chances so I’m just going to prep school.”
Richardson is ranked the #86 on ESPN.com and #74 on Rivals
“We are very excited to get a person and player of DJ’s caliber and character,” Findlay coach Michael Peck said. “From all accounts and what we expect is that he will be a perfect fit for our program.”
Richardson joins returnees Carlos Lopez (6-10, 2009), Clarence Trent (6-8, 2009), and Godwin Okonji (6-8, 2010) as well as newcomers Cory Joseph (2010, 6-2) and Rasham Suarez (2011, 6-3).
**Jeff Goodman of FoxSports.com also reports that both The Patterson (N.C.) School and Hargrave Military (Va.) are loading up on talented players.
Patterson coach Chris Chaney told me Rashanti Harris, a 6-foot-9 athletic big man from Mississippi, is probably his most high-profile player this season.
He is also adding:
– Arsalan Kazemi, a 6-foot-8 senior forward who is trying to become the first Iranian to play college basketball in the United States.
– Hassan Whiteside, a 6-foot-9 senior power forward from North Carolina.
– Luke Cothran, a 6-foot-9 junior from Alabama.
– Long 7-foot African junior David Nyarsuk.
– Nick Garcia, a shooting guard from Chicago.
– Hunter McClintock, a flashy point guard out of North Carolina.
Hargrave Academy coach Kevin Keatts will bring back one-time Georgetown commit Chris Braswell, who has re-opened his recruitment and will do a post-grad year.
Keatts is also bringing on:
– Maurice Creek, an Indiana commit who played last season at South Kent.
– Freddie Riley, a 6-foot-5 wing who committed to Florida Atlantic.
– Deshawn Painter, a long 6-foot-9 athletic big man from Virginia who has committed to Florida
**As previously reported here, St. Benedict’s coach Dan Hurley is picking up a 6-11, 210-pound rising junior center named Blaise Mbargorba from Cameroon. He will play AAU ball with the New Jersey Roadrunners under Sandy Pyonin.
“He’s been trying to get over to the U.S. for the past year and has finally gotten here,” Hurley said. “He’ll be a very highly recruited kid.
**In recruiting news, 6-6 small forward Tristan Spurlock of Rockville (MD) Montrose Christian has committed to Virginia. He is the No. 13 small forward in the Class of 2009.
“I’m going to the University of Virginia. I’m a Cavalier,” Spurlock told Justing Young of Rivals on Wednesday night. “There was a lot of prayer and a lot of family meetings with my mom and pop. I was going through all of my options and UVa has been on the longest. I joke around and say UVa has been on me since I could dribble. They definitely made a huge push.
“I went up there for a visit and it was the first time that my mom could see the campus and it was good. It felt real good to have her up there with me. She was able to feel real comfortable at the school with me. For me, it was where I felt where my heart was at.”
Spurlock also considered Georgetown, Clemson, Louisville, N.C. State and Wake Forest. The four-star prospect told Rivals he liked the bond he has formed with the coaching staff and players.
