Duke signee Shelton Henderson’s mom explains his shift from Coach K’s retirement shock to confidence in Jon Scheyer
Five-star prospect Shelton Henderson concluded his recruitment when he signed for the Duke Blue Devils on Nov. 13. Duke has always been Henderson's choice, right from childhood. But he took his mind off the Blue Devils at some point. His mother, Tarrow Seals, shed light on that phase of his recruitment journey when she appeared on the "Sports Stars of Tomorrow TV" show on March 4.
She said (3:17):
“The only poster he's ever owned was a Duke poster. He wanted to play for Coach K. And when Coach K retired, he felt like, 'OK, well, I can go anywhere now. I don't have a school.'
"And the USA came along, and he went to a camp where Coach Scheyer was one of the coaches, and Shelton had the opportunity to play with, to be coached by Coach Scheyer, and it changed everything for him. He came back home, and he was like, 'I could do that, mom. You know Duke is now back on the radar.'"
Shelton Henderson was a member of the USA Men's U18 National Team that won the 2024 FIBA Men's U18 AmeriCup. He finished the tournament with an average of 8.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.3 steals per 18.1 minutes. He also reached the 10+ points mark in three games.
After legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski retired at the end of the 2021-2022 season, Duke announced Jon Scheyer as the new coach. Scheyer was already on Coach K's staff as the co-associate head coach.
Shelton Henderson’s college recruitment process
The No. 1 prospect in Texas, per 247Sports, Shelton Henderson received 14 college offers. He chose Duke over offers from Texas, Texas Tech, Louisville, DePaul, Houston, LSU, Ole Miss, TCU, SMU, Texas State and others.
The Blue Devils first expressed interest in the five-star prospect from Bellaire High School (Texas) with an offer in June. This was after he made an impressive show at the Nike EYBL circuit and national team camps.
He was a top target for Jon Scheyer and his recruiting staff all through the summer, with assistant coach Jai Lucas working closely on him. He took several visits to Duke in the following months, including an official visit in September and another one for the "Countdown to Craziness."
He went into the details of his commitment decision in an interview with ESPN following his signing:
“I chose Duke because they believe in me and they have such a great atmosphere and history. It was easy to fall in love with their pipeline of sending people to the NBA. I think I could be one of the next to join, and they could help me get there. To be a Blue Devil is going to be such a surreal feeling for me because it has been my dream since school since I started watching basketball.”
Shelton Henderson was one of Duke’s top recruits in the 2025 class, set to kickstart his college career later this year.
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