Recruiting Wrap

Henley acclimating at Brehm Prep

Posted by: Jeremy Werner

Tuesday, October 13, 2009 8:47 AM

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After moving from the southside of Chicago to downstate Carbondale, Dre Henley is experiencing a little bit of culture shock. But the De La Salle transfer, a 6-foot-5 junior wing player, is starting to acclimate to his new digs at Carbondale Brehm Prep.

"He's doing all right; he's getting adjusted," Brehm Prep coach Aaron Lee said. "For a kid like Dre Henley, it's night and day. He has to make a cultural adjustment from going to a school where, of course, most of the kids are predominantly black to a school that is predominantly white. Smaller classrooms. Tons more structure. From 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., everything is structured. And just a way of practicing. I run things a little differently than he's accustomed to. And then not being home, which is a huge adjustment."

Henley, ranked the No. 126 player in the Class of 2011 by Rivals.com, made the more than 300-mile migration south - without his family - to focus on improving his academics.

"Academically, he's doing great," Lee said. "He's really focused on his academics, which is the primary reason is here. The basketball part of it will take care of itself. He's still adjusting to that part, that part of the program, as far as what I expect and what his role is. We're still trying to define that."

Henley joins an already loaded Brehm Prep roster, which features top Class of 2011 talents James Siakam and Bruce Barron and 6-foot-9 2012 prospect Emmanuel Ochenje. Brehm Prep is not a member of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) and plays junior college teams and other preparatory schools. The team began its season last weekend at the Vincennes University Jamboree.

"He gives us a lot of flexibility from the 2 to the 4 position," Lee said. "That gives me the opportunity to create different styles of basketball, different tempos, other lineups to create mismatches for everyone on need the team."

Henley reported scholarship offers from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa State, Marquette and Southern Illinois in August. He said Arkansas has also shown interest.

Lee said Henley gives Brehm Prep another potential star.

"He's one of the few kids that can do everything," Lee said. "He can dribble, pass, shoot, rebound and defend. The question is now how hard is he going to play? That's a question we ask of most of our new kids. ...But he's multitalented, which I'm sure everybody knows. So right now, what we're working on with him is consistency - for him to be that good consistently - because he's shown flashes of being great."

RECRUITING RAMBLINGS

• Lee said Henley, Siakam, Ochenje and Barron have been invited to this weekend's Midnight Madness by "several schools" but that they had not yet made plans on which college to attend as of Friday. "But we are planning on being somewhere; it's just a matter of where."
• One player who will reportedly not be traveling to Illinois for Friday's Spike the Record is St. Louis Chaminade's BRADLEY BEAL. According to ESPN.com affiliate TheShiver.com, Beal - ranked the No. 10 Class of 2011 prospect by Scout.com - will visit Kansas for the "Late Night in the Phog" season kickoff.

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