KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - The father of highly sought Kansas
basketball recruits C.J. and Xavier Henry said Tuesday his sons may
not play at Kansas, after all.
Xavier Henry, a 6-6 guard, is considered one of the most
talented players Kansas coach Bill Self has ever recruited. Adding
him to a deep and experienced squad which returns almost everyone
from the team that reached the NCAA round of 16 last year would
likely make the Jayhawks preseason favorites for the national
championship.
Xavier and his older brother, C.J., were headed to Memphis
before switching to Kansas in the wake of John Calipari's decision
to coach at Kentucky.
But their father, Carl Henry, told Kansas City sportstalk
station WHB Tuesday that the family was upset with a story in The
Kansas City Star on Sunday. The story, the father said, portrayed
his sons as being disinterested in attending classes at college.
Henry said he planned to meet Tuesday night with his sons at the
family home in Oklahoma City to see if the boys want to go to
Kentucky or keep their commitment to Kansas.
"We have a meeting set up tonight where we're going to set down
and talk about this whole deal," the elder Henry said.
Asked if there was a chance his sons would not come to Kansas,
Henry said, "Yes. I don't know what they're considering. When
coach Self came down, my oldest son, C.J., said, `No matter what,
we're going to Kansas.' But a couple of weeks ago, my youngest son
tells me he wants to go to Kentucky, said he's thinking about it."
The extensive story in the Sunday Star indicated the family was
mostly interested in preparing an NBA career for the brothers and
that Xavier has no interest in school.
"If he didn't have to go to college, he wouldn't do it," Carl
Henry was quoted as saying.
When pressed by the interviewers, the elder Henry said there was
nothing factually inaccurate in the story.
"The guy who wrote that story kind of betrayed my whole family
and kind of made us look bad, like my kids are prima donnas, all I
do is talk." he said.
When Calipari left to be head coach at Kentucky, the brothers
switched to Kansas, where their mother, father and aunt all played
basketball. Carl Henry said they might have chosen to follow
Calipari to his new school but that their mother did not want to
live in Kentucky.
But he said she no longer feels that way.
"She told coach Self she's out of it. She don't care where they
go," Henry said.