Henderson back from Tennessee

Cleveland (Ohio) Shaker Heights defensive end Joe Henderson is starting to pick up the pace with his recruitment. This past weekend he traveled to Knoxville to check out the Tennessee Volunteers.

"I just got back from Tennessee on Saturday. It was a real good visit," Henderson said. "There is a lot of interest from them and I am showing it right back.

"The new coaches at Tennessee, their mindset of building on Tennessee up. Obviously Tennessee has been down the past few years, but talking with Coach [Butch] Jones and Coach [Mark] Elder and their mindset really stuck with me. Plus, the great facilities - weight room, football field, dorms - it was nice to see."

Henderson estimates his current offer total at close to 20, but said he is still wide open and has not settled on a top group of teams yet. Among his most recent offers are Nebraska, Maryland, Georgia Tech and Wisconsin.

"Nebraska came up on Thursday," Henderson said. "The defensive coordinator said he just wanted to get eyes on me and Nebraska loves me, loves my film and how athletic I am.

"Wisconsin's defensive coordinator called me and we stayed on the phone for about 20-25 minutes before he offered me. He was just telling me about himself and the school."

The trip to Tennessee is not the last the 6-foot-4, 222-pound defensive end plans to take before his senior season. His thoughts now are on potential summer visits.

"I am still bouncing around what schools I want to visit," Henderson said. "I want to get to Kentucky and I am probably going to end up going back down to Ohio State because they said they want to get me down there. I will probably go back down to Louisville, but I'm still talking with coaches about when is the best time to come down."

Henderson made his first regional camp appearance this spring when the Rivals Camp Series presented by Under Armour swung through Pittsburgh late last month. Henderson took home Defensive Line MVP honors from the event and had what looked like a heated rivalry with fellow Cleveland-area native Marcelys Jones, the Offensive Line MVP.

"We were just pushing each other," Henderson said. "We're real good friends at the end of the day."