Recruiting Report: Cole Henry (2019)

Recently checking in at No.13 in the latest installment of 2019 rankings, Oskaloosa 6-foot-9 forward Cole Henry may not be done rising. He’s got one offer right now, and that’s from North Dakota; several other Division I programs have become aware and intrigued by the good-sized and versatile forward. “I’ve had a lot of calls coming in from various schools. Right now the interest is mainly coming in from University of Nebraska-Omaha, I went to their elite camp. And then I got a call from South Dakota, a call from Miami of Ohio, Jeff Rutter called me from there. Ali Farokhmanesh has called me from Drake, twice,” said Henry. “And I’ve gotten a few letters from UNI, which is really exciting, because that’s really where I want to go.” He also mentioned Belmont, UC-Santa Barbara, Saint Cloud State, Elon and Missouri State as schools that have shown interest since the spring started. And he mentioned UM-KC as "very interested." There’s one school in particular that Henry feels is after him the most. “I would have to say Drake is after me a lot, I really like Ali Farokhmanesh, he’s really cool. I think they might be the closest right now (to offering),” said Henry. “The other schools have really just started reaching out in the last couple of weeks.” In the past, because of his size, Henry has played in the post, but this past year-and-a-half he’s been continuously working to diversify his skill-set. This spring with the Martin Brothers 16U, Henry has had the opportunity to showcase his perimeter skills. “Obviously, I’ve been playing with the Martin Brothers and with Owen Coburn on our team, I’m a lot less of a center, like I was for Oskaloosa. And now I’m doing a little bit more work on the perimeter; creating for my teammates and hitting some 3s.” This past season, as a sophomore with Oskaloosa, Henry averaged 11.7 points and a team-high 8.8 rebounds per game. Most eye-catching, is that he led the team in assists as well. Unfortunately for Henry and Co., they were ousted in a substate game against Mount Pleasant. That left a sour taste in his mouth. “I was really upset we lost, we should definitely have beat Mount Pleasant and played in the state tournament,” Henry said. “That (losing in substate) is for sure not going to happen next season.” So far, this offseason has been fantastic for Henry, he's having a blast with Martin Bros 16U, he’s played well enough to see his recruitment spike, and because of that, he’s very eager for the summer. “The spring was awesome, I had my best spring individually and I think we did as a team. I had some of the most fun ever, and I think I turned a lot of heads,” said Henry. “I’m really excited for Milwaukee, that will be the first (live) tournament we play in this July. All the coaches told me they’ll be there watching me. And that’s a lot of pressure, but hopefully I can handle that pressure and turn their heads even more. And the main goal is to get several offers this summer.” But there’s one offer he wants most. We alluded to it earlier in the article. “UNI has been my dream school since I was a little kid, so that would be awesome if they’d get more involved,” said Henry. “I just hope I have the same summer as I did the spring.”