‘It’s a close one’ for KJ Henry as decision day looms

One of the top players in the country planning to make a college decision this week and sign Wednesday is defensive end K.J. Henry of Clemmons, N.C.

He’s coming off a great week in Spartanburg at the Shrine Bowl and now he must decide where he plans to play his college ball among Clemson, South Carolina, Virginia Tech, Georgia and Alabama.

Before departing Wofford Saturday evening, Henry said his plan was to return home, relax and talk things out with his family until reaching a decision.

“Talk and see where their heads are at first and kind of mix some thoughts together,” Henry said. “This race with all five of these schools, I don’t think people understand just different scenarios play out and it’s a close one. We’ve just got to see these last couple of days. The last 48 hours will be all me. I probably won’t respond to anybody, just me in my zone making sure I’m making the right decision for myself.”

Of course, speculation has been rampant about which school Henry will pick. Depending on the information you read, he’s decided on Clemson. Or perhaps it’s USC. Maybe it’s Georgia.

“You know they’ll say, ‘I know where you’re going,’ ” Henry said. “First thing I tell them is tell me because I have no idea,” Henry said. “Look, five great schools. There’s a lot of things I take into this. Not only just good football programs and great coaches, but I want to be a coach when I grow up so I’ve got to think of coaching staffs that are real connected throughout the college football profession, a great place to raise a family as far as cities and towns. This decision is bigger than football itself. And the biggest thing to come from it is the degree that I walk away with in four years.”

Henry added that the possibility of his father, currently the running backs coach at Charlotte, landing a job at one of his finalists will be a point of discussion as they weigh the pros and cons of each program over the next 48 hours.

He announces Wednesday at around 4:20 p.m. on ESPNU.

This story was originally published December 18, 2017 at 9:49 AM with the headline "‘It’s a close one’ for KJ Henry as decision day looms."