University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Doing Things Right (Handed)
September 27, 2011 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Sept. 27, 2011
By Adam Lucas
Chances are that John Henson has a long future ahead of him in professional basketball. Elite athletes who stand 6-foot-11, 220 pounds (more on that later), have a tendency of finding gainful employment.
When that period of his life is over, however, Henson might have a future in the journalism field.
The Tampa native is among the most prolific tweeters on a Tar Heel team filled with social media addicts. The difference in Henson's feed? He's actually broken some news, albeit unintentionally.
Henson's sister, Amber, is a freshman on Duke's women's basketball team this season. This is a storyline certain to be rehashed numerous times this year. The younger Henson's recruitment gave the entire Henson family unusual familiarity with coaching staffs from both sides of college basketball's most ferocious rivalry. It also turned out to give her brother excellent sources.
That's how, via Twitter, he was able to welcome former Duke assistant Trisha Stafford-Odom to Chapel Hill well in advance of the school's official announcement. When asked about his Woodward and Bernstein moment, Henson looks a little sheepish.
"I did do that, didn't I?" the junior says. "I didn't think anybody realized that."
Before he embarks on his news-gathering career, however, Henson has some basketball to play. After a sophomore season that showed one of the most dramatic in-season improvements in recent Tar Heel memory, he spent his summer focusing on his all-around game. Already among the nation's leaders in rebounding (his 15.1 rebounds per 40 minutes ranked second in the country last season), he's refined his offensive touch. The player who once had to be benched at the end of games to avoid the risk of having him shoot free throws has developed a face-up jumper to go with his post moves. "I'm not going to say it's Tim Duncan-esque," Henson says, "but it'll keep the defender honest."
Most of his points will still come in the paint, where his left-handed hook shot became one of the league's most consistent signature shots. It was such a Henson trademark, in fact, that it perplexed even some Carolina alums.
This summer, while watching Henson operate in a pickup game, Brendan Haywood marveled at Henson putting the ball on the floor with his right hand. "He's doing that with his off hand!" the member of the 2011 NBA world champions said.
Informed that Henson was actually right-handed, Haywood refused to believe it.
"No, he's not," he said. "He always shoots that lefty hook. He's left-handed."
Despite Haywood's contention, Henson is, in fact, a righty. It's just that he's ambidextrous around the rim to the point that he often prefers his left hand. Another item on his summer to-do list: "I've worked a lot on my right-hand hook," Henson says. "I needed something as a counter move to that left-hand hook."
As always, for the player whose weight has been almost as scrutinized as Oprah's, there were frequent summer workout sessions with Jonas Sahratian. When Henson arrived in Chapel Hill, the goal was to add weight via any method possible. Now, he's been able to focus on adding strength, and while his 220 pounds may not be chiseled, there's some noticeable definition.
That's been an asset during summer pickup games, when Henson has frequently been matched against players like Haywood, Sean May, Tyler Hansbrough and even occasional Chapel Hill visitor Blake Griffin.
"The strength is much more of a factor than just putting on pounds," Henson says. "It gives you more confidence. You can take some hits and keep playing, whereas before it might have totally taken you out of the play."
The added muscle means a longer basketball career and, in turn, a longer wait before he begins his journalistic pursuits. For now, he's content to have broken just one story. And, of course, given the context of that story, he's happy to have the current last word with his sister in what is likely to be a lifelong battle about the value of a Tobacco Road education.
"I had to say something," he says of what he told his sister about Stafford-Odom's choice to join the Tar Heels. "So I just told her, `This is Carolina. Why wouldn't anyone want to come here?'"
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly. He is also the author or co-author of six books on Carolina basketball, including the official chronicle of the first 100 years of Tar Heel hoops, A Century of Excellence, which is available now. Get real-time UNC sports updates from the THM staff on Twitter and Facebook.
