First, the fairy tale:</p><p><em>Carl Henry and Barbara Adkins played basketball at Kansas during the early 1980s. They got to know each other better through nighttime walks from Allen Fieldhouse to their dorm, and they fell in love at KU, their hoop dreams fueling a future together. They were married in crimson-and-blue matrimony and headed for Europe, where Carl would play basketball. </em></p><p><em>They had a boy named C.J., and, four years later, another boy named Xavier. In Belgium, they pronounced the name Zah-vee-ay, and the Henrys kind of liked it. Carl would sit his sons on his lap and tell them about this special place called Kansas. Hopefully, he&rsquo;d say with pride, they would play there someday just like their mom and dad. </em></p><p><em>C.J. and Xavier would become high school basketball stars, coveted by every school in the country. Of course, they chose to play at Kansas.</em></p><p>&bull; &bull; &bull;</p><p>Now, the reality:</p><p>OKLAHOMA CITY | Carl Henry yawns. He leans forward on a weight bench in a high school football training facility that feels like a humidor, trying to keep his eyes open. His sons are lifting weights and jumping over stacked padded blocks. </p><p>C.J. and Xavier are not kids anymore, but Carl still chooses to watch their daily workouts with personal trainer Mark Heusman. </p><p>&ldquo;I just try to make sure they&rsquo;re working hard,&rdquo; Carl says. </p><p>Carl perks up when Heusman challenges 18-year-old Xavier, all 6 feet, 6 inches of him, to jump over five blocks from a stationary position. The blocks reach above Xavier&rsquo;s midsection, and, having never attempted this drill before, he hesitates. </p><p>&ldquo;Come on, Xavier!&rdquo; Heusman says. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a mind thing! Come on, Xav!&rdquo; </p><p>Finally, after several hiccups, Xavier clears the mental and physical barrier. Feeling good about himself, he mouths off to C.J., who isn&rsquo;t allowed to attempt the jumps because of his ongoing recovery from an injury to his left foot. </p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll bet you 100 you can&rsquo;t,&rdquo; Xavier says.</p><p>&ldquo;End of the summer,&rdquo; the 23-year-old C.J. retorts.</p><p>The Henrys like to work. They take no shortcuts. The only problem is that it&rsquo;s late June, and they&rsquo;re working out in Oklahoma City instead of Lawrence with their teammates. The Henrys&rsquo; decision not to attend summer school is just the latest twist in their courtship with Kansas that, somewhere between the boys&rsquo; signings with Memphis and their April flirtation with Kentucky, has lost some of its romance. </p><p>Still, even after those bumps, KU coach Bill Self and the Henry boys clung to the storyline: With their pledge to the Jayhawks, they would become the &ldquo;first family of Kansas basketball.&rdquo;</p><p>Yet, while freshmen Thomas Robinson and Elijah Johnson are already on campus attending classes like most others around the country, the Henrys remain here. Carl says he encouraged Xavier to attend summer school. </p><p>&ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t wanna go,&rdquo; Carl says. &ldquo;I said, &lsquo;Well, you call Coach Self and tell him you don&rsquo;t want to come.&rsquo; &rdquo;</p><p>Xavier says it&rsquo;s nothing personal. He had to get his braces off and recently had root canals done on his front two teeth. Carl says it&rsquo;s more that Xavier is not interested in attending class. </p><p>&ldquo;If he didn&rsquo;t have to go to college, he wouldn&rsquo;t do it,&rdquo; Carl says. </p><p>A month after signing with the Jayhawks, Carl says, the family looked into Xavier playing in Europe for a year. </p><p>&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t have to take any classes,&rdquo; Xavier says.