Interview With LaDontae Henton's Coach
by Alex Schwartz
A few weeks ago, Providence doubled the size of its 2011 class when 6-foot-6, 220-pound small forward LaDontae Henton committed to the Friars. A star at Lansing Eastern (MI), Henton originally signed with Dayton, but reopened his recruitment when Brian Gregory left for Georgia Tech, and he is now headed to PC.
Rod Watts coached Henton for the past four years both in high school ball and on the AAU circuit with the Michigan Mustangs. ScoutFriars.com caught up with coach Watts to discuss Henton and his commitment to the Providence program.
“Well, of course you know the story where Dayton had hired a new coach and he wanted to open up his recruiting and he thought it was only fair that [new Dayton head] coach [Archie] Miller recruited him just so that he felt as though he would be, would get the same type of love that coach Gregory was giving him,” Watts said of how Henton selected Providence. “So, he opened the recruiting up and [Providence assistant] coach [Bob] Simon, who we have a relationship with and has some Michigan ties, had called and let us know that there was some interest there.
“The two guys that hosted him on the visit, he made a connection with, and even more important from my standpoint, he made a good connection with coach Cooley,” Watts continued. “Coach Cooley is a really . . . down to earth guy and I think that’s what [helped him pick] Providence because he was set to visit Penn State the next weekend and NC State the following weekend. And he got back and we talked about it and I think it was Tuesday and he said he wanted to make the commitment and I asked him to think about it overnight and I think it was Wednesday and we sat down after school and he said he wanted to be a Friar.”
Watts said that a number of schools were involved with Henton the second time around and Providence was not the only school that got a visit.
“Iowa State is a school that he visited other than Providence,” Watts said. “Penn State and NC State were the other schools he was going to visit. He had considered USF, South Florida. Who else was there? Nebraska, and there were quite a few schools around here that expressed a lot of interest in him.”
Noticeably absent from that list is Dayton, the school that Henton was at one point all set to attend.
To read the rest of this article I wrote for ScoutFriars.com, click Here.
A few weeks ago, Providence doubled the size of its 2011 class when 6-foot-6, 220-pound small forward LaDontae Henton committed to the Friars. A star at Lansing Eastern (MI), Henton originally signed with Dayton, but reopened his recruitment when Brian Gregory left for Georgia Tech, and he is now headed to PC.
Rod Watts coached Henton for the past four years both in high school ball and on the AAU circuit with the Michigan Mustangs. ScoutFriars.com caught up with coach Watts to discuss Henton and his commitment to the Providence program.
“Well, of course you know the story where Dayton had hired a new coach and he wanted to open up his recruiting and he thought it was only fair that [new Dayton head] coach [Archie] Miller recruited him just so that he felt as though he would be, would get the same type of love that coach Gregory was giving him,” Watts said of how Henton selected Providence. “So, he opened the recruiting up and [Providence assistant] coach [Bob] Simon, who we have a relationship with and has some Michigan ties, had called and let us know that there was some interest there.
“The two guys that hosted him on the visit, he made a connection with, and even more important from my standpoint, he made a good connection with coach Cooley,” Watts continued. “Coach Cooley is a really . . . down to earth guy and I think that’s what [helped him pick] Providence because he was set to visit Penn State the next weekend and NC State the following weekend. And he got back and we talked about it and I think it was Tuesday and he said he wanted to make the commitment and I asked him to think about it overnight and I think it was Wednesday and we sat down after school and he said he wanted to be a Friar.”
Watts said that a number of schools were involved with Henton the second time around and Providence was not the only school that got a visit.
“Iowa State is a school that he visited other than Providence,” Watts said. “Penn State and NC State were the other schools he was going to visit. He had considered USF, South Florida. Who else was there? Nebraska, and there were quite a few schools around here that expressed a lot of interest in him.”
Noticeably absent from that list is Dayton, the school that Henton was at one point all set to attend.
To read the rest of this article I wrote for ScoutFriars.com, click Here.
Posted by northstarbball at 5/26/2011 7:08 PM 
Categories: Links, Class of 2011
Tags: LaDontae Henton Providence Dayton ScoutFriarscom Brian Gregory Rod Watts Ed Cooley Penn State Iowa State North Carolina State Nebraska
Categories: Links, Class of 2011
Tags: LaDontae Henton Providence Dayton ScoutFriarscom Brian Gregory Rod Watts Ed Cooley Penn State Iowa State North Carolina State Nebraska
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