Tuesday, August 26, 2008

CJ Henry is Ballin'

CJ Henry has been one of the biggest busts in recent Yankees' amateur drafting memory. He was a two sport star in high school, evidently picking the wrong one to pursue after being drafted number 17 overall in 2005. He turned down a basketball scholarship to Kansas at the time to pursue his diamond dreams.

But after hitting .243 in one-plus minor league seasons, he was part of the package sent to the Phillies in 2006 for Bobby Abreu. When the Phillies released him at the end of 2007, Henry approached the Yankees and signed a minor league contract to re-join the organization. However a neck injury in March has limited his time on the field to just 20 games this season. Now he's turning his attention back to basketball.

Henry announced that he will be enrolling at Memphis University this Fall and will play basketball under head coach John Calipari. The Tigers lost in the NCAA final last season, ironically, to the Kansas Jayhawks.

The Kansas-Memphis connection doesn't end there though. Henry's brother Xavier is one of the top high school players in the country and is said to be choosing between Memphis and Kansas when he graduates high school next spring.

Whether his brother will be his teammate or not, CJ Henry is working hard to get his basketball skills up to par and to set a new dream in motion.

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