KU basketball recruit Xavier Henry could be heading for Memphis

By J. BRADY McCOLLOUGH

The Kansas City Star

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LAWRENCE | The Kansas basketball program still has two visits scheduled with class of 2009 standout Xavier Henry, but it’s possible that a development Tuesday afternoon could make KU’s pursuit of him more of an uphill battle.

Henry’s older brother, C.J. Henry, who gave an oral commitment in 2005 to play at KU before being drafted by the New York Yankees, told The Oklahoman that he would play basketball this season for Memphis. Currently, it is believed that KU and Memphis are the front-runners to land Xavier Henry, an Oklahoma City shooting guard who is the No. 3 overall prospect in the class, according to Rivals.com.

C.J. Henry told the newspaper he believes it’s “50-50” that Xavier chooses the same school as he does.

Xavier Henry, according to Rivals.com, is scheduled to be in Lawrence for the KU football game against Sam Houston State on Sept. 20, the same day the 2008 NCAA champion Jayhawks will receive their championship rings in a private ceremony. That visit will be unofficial. Henry is expected to make his official visit for “Late Night at the Phog” on Oct. 17. He plans to visit Memphis a week later.

Xavier and C.J. are the sons of former KU basketball captain Carl Henry, who played during 1983-84. Unfortunately for the Jayhawks, Carl Henry also has a connection to Memphis coach John Calipari, who was a graduate assistant at KU while Henry played there.

•BALLARD PROMOTED: KU coach Bill Self announced Tuesday that Brett Ballard will take over for the departed Ronnie Chalmers as the team’s director of basketball operations. Ballard, a KU letterman during 2000-02, had spent the last three seasons as the team’s video coordinator.

Kyle Keller, an assistant coach at Oklahoma State since 2005-06, will be the new video coordinator.

Posted on Tue, Aug. 26, 2008 10:15 PM

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