Ta’Zhawn Henry is really good, but apparently not good enough for a couple of teams he kept in his recruitment until today.
Now, after his televised commitment to TCU, the Horned Frogs have added a running back who rushed for nearly eight yards per carry and 1,300-yards last season. That came after putting the state on notice with 1,400 yards and 22 touchdowns as a sophomore. While Texas A&M may regret missing on a player in its own backyard, Henry is licking his chops to take his shot at Texas when TCU plays the Longhorns on November 4.
“Those schools gave me a lot of long nights,” he said. “How they didn’t stay in my recruitment - now I’m going to show them big things and let them know what they missed out on. I have a chip on my shoulder.
“A big chip.”
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Speculation that he would likely commit to Iowa State was validated by Henry himself when he said earlier this summer that Iowa State was his leader. However, after close friend and 7-on-7 teammate Taye Barber recently committed to the Horned Frogs, the tides seemed to turn more toward TCU.
“(Barber) is a great person and a great player,” Henry said. “I feel like me and him in the same offense would be deadly and we could kill it in the Big 12.
“I’ve really loved being out at TCU, though. I have been going out there since my ninth grade year. I was really already kind of used to it, but I went out there a couple of weeks ago and saw the work they’ve done; Coach (Gary Patterson) was getting his building redone and it looked really nice.”
Even as he was leaning toward Iowa State, he acknowledged that he envisioned a bigger role within TCU’s offense. With fall approaching, he’s been working more on other areas of his game to become the more complete player they expect him to be.
“They want to feature me mainly at running back, but they want me to go in the slot and catch the ball,” Henry said. “Mainly, I have been working at slot a lot at practice, but normally I’m the running back, so I’ve been doing like 50-50, 60-40. I’ve been working a lot more on catching balls this year.”
Henry isn’t as big as some of the other top running backs in the state, but he has elite speed and quickness. He became somewhat of an internet sensation after releasing his highlights from last season, which opened with a clip of him scoring a touchdown after hurdling two hopeful tacklers in one leap.
“Honestly, I think that I’m the best back in the state of Texas,” he said. “I’m not too big, but every top team that we went up against, I did my part. I ran for a lot of yards, I’d score two or three times in a game, and I feel like because I’m not big that people are sleeping on me right now… But I love everyone that’s sleeping on me because that’s making me work harder, grind harder.”
The TCU staff had its eyes open with Henry. He feels he’s already a quality addition to a group with a nice blend of top-end talent and workhorse players. Going forward, he expects 2018 will be the latest crop of prospects to attract even more top recruits to TCU in the future.
“It’s a great class,” he said. “I feel like if all of us come together out there at TCU, we’ll shock the world. Justin Rogers is a great quarterback, Taye Barber is a great athlete… 2018 has a lot of top guys and I feel like 2019 is going to come in and give them some top guys too."
