Xavier Henry, the No. 1 shooting guard in the Class of 2009, will likely delay his college decision until spring while he recovers from surgery to repair a broken cheekbone suffered during a car accident last month.
Henry underwent a two-hour surgical process Thursday morning in Oklahoma City, according to his father, Carl Henry.
“The surgery is about two hours,” Carl said by phone. “In about four hours they’ll see if he can go home.”
Henry initially hoped to announce his college choice this week, but he still hasn’t decided between Kansas and Memphis. Carl said the decision will now take additional time because his son will be on medication for 4-6 weeks. He cannot return to practice with his Putnam City team until after that period.
The NCAA early signing period runs Nov. 12-19, meaning Henry will likely wait until the spring to announce. He plans to make his announcement on ESPNU.
“He’ll still be on medication and stuff,” Carl said. “He won’t do that [announce] until he’s fully recovered. Once he starts playing again, he could do it then.”
Carl and Kansas head coach Bill Self had dinner Wednesday night and Carl said he explained the situation to Self.
“I talked to Bill Self last night,” Carl said. “He was down here in Oklahoma City. Me and him went to dinner.”
Carl said Memphis coach John Calipari has also visited recently.
“Both coaches have been here,” he said.
The family had a meeting earlier this week to discuss Xavier’s college options, and he still hadn’t decided.
“We already had that and he still didn’t come up with his decison,” Carl said. “He just told us the pros and cons, what he likes about both schools. He likes both schools. He wasn’t ready to pick a school yet.”
Carl previously said, “I believe he wants to go to Kansas but then again with his brother at Memphis, he might want to go there also.”
Now it appears there will be a matter of months before he does announce, which could have an impact on other players being recruited by either or both schools, such as St. Anthony wing Dominic Cheek and Michael Snaer of Moreno Valley (CA) Rancho Verde.
Both of those players may well wait until the spring.