Shelton Henderson, the No. 14 overall recruit in the 2025 class and a former Duke signee, has committed to Jai Lucas and Miami a source tells 247Sports.
A 6-foot-6, 220-pound small forward from Bellaire (Texas), Henderson was released from his National Letter of Intent to Duke on Thursday, April 17th and has moved quickly into finding his new home.
Upon opening his recruitment, schools including Texas, Texas A&M, Kentucky and others all made a push but ultimately his pre-existing relationship with Miami’s new head has trumped any other potential suitors.
While Lucas was still on the staff at Duke as the program’s associate head coach, he was the lead recruiter for Henderson in bringing him to the Blue Devils. Additionally, they both share deep Texas roots. Henderson attended the same high school as Lucas and also played for Lucas’ father’s AAU program – JL3 Elite on the Nike EYBL Circuit.
A five-star prospect and a potential NBA level talent, Henderson is certainly a splash add for Lucas and the Hurricanes.
Henderson is a long, strong and explosive athlete that has tremendous upside on the defensive end of the floor. He scores in the open court, can slash to the rim and has upside as a playmaker.
He is the seventh addition to Lucas’ first class joining, joining Dante Allen (No. 42 in 2025), Timotej Malovec, Tru Washington (New Mexico), Ernest Udeh Jr. (TCU), Tre Donaldson (Michigan) and Malik Reneau (Indiana).
247Sports Director of Scouting Adam Finkelstein provides the following scouting report on Henderson.
“Henderson is one of the most physically imposing players in the country, especially on the perimeter. He has terrific wing size at right around 6-foot-6. He’s long and powerful with an absolutely chiseled frame from head-to-toe, and a better than 6-foot-10 wingspan. His hands are big and he’s also a high-level athlete.
He plays an attacking style, getting downhill, absorbing contact on his way to the rim, and maintaining the line of his drive through congestion. He’s so physically imposing that he doesn’t always get enough credit for his feel for the game. The game appears to have really slowed down for him in the last year as he’s picking his spots more efficiently and showing some real passing ability on both ends of the floor.
Henderson has naturally soft hands, but his skill-set is a work in progress. He’s not a natural shooter, but his touch is adequate and his high release more fluid within the last year. He only made 21% of his attempted threes and 61% of his free-throws during EYBL play, but looks increasingly capable of being able to make open, rhythm threes in time. Similarly, he has a solid left hand as a handler and finisher, but isn’t super flexible in his hips and could further develop his handle and finishing craft when he can’t rely on strictly his physical tools.
Henderson can really change the game on the defensive end of the floor where his length, physicality, and motor are all major assets. He’s extremely versatile, guards bigger players with ease, and is often able to contain smaller guards as well. He gets his hands on a lot of balls and is a very good perimeter rebounder.
Overall, he has an overlap of extreme physical gifts, feel for the game, intangibles, and two-way versatility that is unique in this class, and there’s still plenty of upside left to discover as he continues to develop and polish his skill-set.”
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