Xavier and CJ Make it Official

Finally!!!  As expected the long running saga of Xavier and CJ Henry has ended and Bill Self has landed one big fish and a possible hidden gem in the Henry brothers. 

Reports surfaced Tuesday night from media outlets left and right.  Kentucky outlets, Jayhawk outlets, Memphis outlets and even neutral outlets all reported this a done deal.  Then came word of an impending hat presser on Thursday morning.  This time it appeared more than just a test of the emergency broadcast system; this looked like the real deal.

In case you've been living in a cave lately let's take a look at how we got here.  Shortly after the Memphis loss in the NCAA tournament John Calipari made the decision to head to Lexington to coach the Wildcats.  This opened up a whole new twist in what seemed to be a calming spring recruiting season that appeared to have Lance Stephenson in a Jayhawk uniform.  To the excitment of many and the dismay of some Xavier Henry rated by some the top player in the country was suddenly an available commodity as he was said to be requesting his release from Memphis along with brother CJ to head elsewhere. 

Up next, one hell of a ride on the recruiting rollercoaster and you must be at least 60" tall to ride.  First Lance delays his scheduled announcement to attend what many believed would be Kansas.  Next Xavier's coming to Kansas, no wait he's visiting Kentucky, now they're staying at Memphis...no they're not visiting anymore, or are they...no one knows what's really going on but when the smoke cleared the Jayhawks emerged the victor.

How did it happen? Why did it happen?  Who knows and who cares the Jayhawks have just landed a HUGE piece to a potential Final Four run in 09'-10'. 

One of the biggest things missing from this year's team was that third scoring option.  Cole was an effective scorer from down low, while Sherron could score from just about anywhere but when defenders shut them down or the duo struggled on their own accord the Jayhawks never found a consistent third go to option. 

Factor in the return of Cole and Sherron, the addition of Henry, the improvement of the current players and 3 other top 40 players being added to the roster next year you've got to believe this problem won't persist and the Jayhawks have tremendous potential.  Even to the extent that some are favoring the Jayhawks to cut down the nets for the 2nd time in 3 years at Indianapolis in 2010.

Now clearly there is a long way to go and a lot of things have to go right to get there so don't count me in the group counting their chickens before they hatch, but looking at previous national title winners and the time to rebuild, I am extremely happy with the way FHOFNCHCBS has reloaded this program in no time.  Not to mention he did it without really skipping a beat and bringing home the 5th straight Big 12 conference title.  Might want to start the battle cry for next year and being in the mix for six.

No matter how you felt about this process throughout the fact remains that this is a big victory and Henry will be a huge addition to the Jayhawks.  Now maybe we can move our focus to football...??  Maybe??