Who is Terry Henderson?

When a player sits out a year due to transfer rules, it can be easy to forget about them. We live in a world with short attention spans, so remembering who a player is that sits on the bench in a suit every game is rather difficult.

So the question of 2015 is “Who is Terry Henderson?”

Henderson is a 6’4″ shooting guard that played high school ball in Raleigh at Neuse Christian Academy, who he led to 4 state championships. He was a 3-star recruit that was recruited by NC State’s Mark Gottfried, but never received an offer from the Wolfpack. He inevitably chose to commit to West Virginia over offers from Georgia, Maryland, Virginia Tech, Miami, Rutgers, Richmond, George Mason and others.

While at West Virginia, he made an instant impact. As a freshman, he averaged 20 minutes per game, and started in 11 contests.  He proved to be dangerous from three, shooting 40% from behind-the-arc in his first year, and averaged 8 points per game. As a sophomore, he averaged 27 minutes per game, and started in 17 contests. Henderson averaged 11.7 points per game, and shot 37.6% from three-point land and 84.8% from the charity stripe.

In two seasons for the Mountaineers, Henderson averaged 9.8 points per game, while shooting 38.7% from three and 81.6% from the free throw line. He did this against some of the best talent in the country, facing Big 12 opponents.

If you’re not a numbers person, you might be wondering what to make of Terry Henderson’s stats. Let’s compare his numbers to two other former NC State guards that were also transfers. Ralston Turner averaged 10.5 points per game at LSU in two years before transferring, but only shot 34.6% from three. Trevor Lacey averaged 9.4 points per game and shot 34.6% from deep in two years at Alabama. I can’t guarantee what Henderson will do on the court this year, but from a statistical standpoint, Henderson comes to NC State as a better three-point specialist than either Turner or Lacey were at this point in their careers.

When Henderson decided to transfer, Gottfried was able to recruit him again, and he said in his summer press conference that he regretted not doing so more back when he was in high school. Henderson ultimately chose NC State over Maryland and Richmond.

Like Turner and Lacey, Henderson brings instant experience to the wing position for the Pack. Take a look at this video of some of his high school highlights. You’ll see that he is more than a spot shooter, and actually brings more bounce and athleticism to the wing position than NC State has had in a couple of years.