The month of June has passed and for the third consecutive year, the Pitt football program landed a large number of commitments. One of them, Hallandale Beach (FL) Hallandale cornerback Malik Henderson, has emerged as an early leader.
“I was at Pitt when a lot of the true freshman arrived and some of them didn’t know each other. It’s tough to start working out with a group of guys that you might not know,” said Henderson. “When you’re comfortable with your teammates and you know them better, you tend to encourage each other when you’re going hard during workouts.”
“I started a group chat with my recruiting class. It’s been great,” he said. “When we first started it, we were on it all the time. It was a success within the first five days. We’ve had a lot of fun with it. When a new player joined the class, we would welcome them. Things have slowed down a little bit due to summer workouts but we’ll keep it going.”
Henderson (6-foot-1 inches, 180 pounds) is a physical cornerback that chose the Panthers over scholarship offers from Arkansas, Indiana, Florida Atlantic, Massachusetts and Alcorn State. He opted to commit to Pitt in early June despite not having visited. Malik visited Pitt three weeks later had nothing but rave reviews about the experience.
“I really loved the visit. I knew as soon as I got there that it was meant to be. I didn’t know to expect and after the visit ended, I had no regrets,” said Henderson. “I almost knew it from the beginning of the visit. When we drove through the tunnel and saw the city, the bridges and rivers. It was great. I instantly felt at home.”
“Honestly, each part of the visit made me feel better. The more I saw, the more I liked it,” he said. “Pitt started to feel more like home than Florida. I didn’t want to leave. I can’t wait to get back there.”
Henderson is the 2nd Floridian to join the Panthers class of 2015. He joins Melbourne (FL) Palm Bay running back Sekai Lindsay (5-foot-9 inches, 195 pounds).
“My mother, uncle, aunt and sister came with me on the trip. They were impressed as well,” he said. “When we met with Coach (Paul) Chryst, he talked a lot about the balance between football and academics. He said that my education was a top priority. They were happy to hear that he wanted to develop me as a person and player.”
Henderson and his family had separate meetings with Pitt defensive backs coach Troy Douglas and defensive tackles coach Inoke Breckterfield. Both coaches were highly instrumental in his recruitment.
“I really liked the facilities. I got to see everything. The co-joined facilities with the Steelers were amazing,” he said. “We saw (Pittsburgh Steelers head coach) Mike Tomlin. It’s a really unique set up with an NFL team.”
“I love Pitt’s tradition and history. I got to see the Cathedral of Learning, Heinz Chapel, the Peterson Events Center, freshman dorms, weight room and practice field,” he said. “I love learning about history and I found out that a Pitt scientist (Jonas Salk) developed the polio vaccine. That’s amazing.”
Pitt appears to have filled two of their open 2015 scholarships for cornerbacks with verbal commitments from Henderson and Coraopolis (PA) Quaker Valley athlete Dane Jackson. At least one safety prospect will be added to the class. Pittsburgh (PA) Central Catholic John Petrishen and Coatesville (PA) Jay Stocker appear to be the two to candidates for the scholarship.
DreamBackfield.com’s Harry G. Psaros can be found on Twitter at @PittGuru