By Mike Gallagher
Seantrel Henderson is one of the best recruits to ever come out of Minnesota, and it looks as if he’ll be the best one ever to get away.
With signing day on February 3rd, Henderson is set to announce his decision on CBS College Sports Network at 4:30 p.m. central time.
Not a person that can be found on earth knows what school Henderson is going to go with, and a dry run a few hours ago in the CBS College studios wielded no hint of it, either.
The one detail we do know, which is completely insignificant, is that it may not involve a hat selection, just a verbal revealing of the choice.
That detail is even more insignificant to the Gophers at this point, as it seems that they have little to no chance of getting the 6’8’’, 338 pound monster of 2010 recruiting.
Some websites already have the Gophers out of the running, while most have them fourth or fifth behind what is reportedly the now-favorite Trojans of USC, followed by Miami, Ohio State, and then the Gophers. Florida and Notre Dame are the other schools some services have ranked ahead of the Gophers.
“Seantrel remains uncommitted at this time and the six schools he has narrowed his list down to remain the same,” reiterated Seantrel’s father Sean in a phone interview conducted by Sports Illustrated.
Despite an aggressive recruiting push that included 77 reasons why Henderson should come to Minnesota (Henderson wore #77 in high school) and a series of marketing campaigns shown to Henderson by Tim Brewster over the last few weeks, it appears Brewster is once again not living up to the hype of being one of the nation’s best recruiters.
Currently, the Gophers sit at #68 in the team rankings according to Scout.com. That number would go through the ceiling should Henderson have a last second change of heart, as it also would if four star recruit James Louis backs out of his Ohio State commitment as it is rumored he will. Louis is seemingly being won over by former high school teammate and Gopher signee RB Donnell Kirkwood.
Unfortunately for the Gophers, there’s nothing left to pull out of the bag to sway Henderson. The Gophers have put on the full court press for months, and it still seems to not be enough.
At the moment, it appears the Gophers are sitting in the bottom quarter of the Big Ten’s recruiting classes and haven’t signed anyone in the ESPNU 150 and only one signee is ranked in the top 20 at their respective position (Jimmy Gjere, offensive guard).
Tim Brewster’s two-year contract extension was perhaps a last ditch effort to get Henderson won over by the fact that he would be ensured the same coach over his years here. I’m sure it’s not the only reason, but it definitely had something to do with the odd timing of the extension.
But when this falls through Wednesday at 4:30, and Seantrel bolts for the west coast, that extension may look even more foolish than it did when Brewster signed on the dotted line.