Henderson hearing from local teams

One of the best defensive backs at Sunday's Los Angeles Nike Camp was Ryan Henderson and the Moreno Valley (Calif.) Rancho Verde prospect said recruiting has started to pick up from some major Pac-10 programs.

Southern Cal has started to show interest in Henderson, an athletic and strong 5-foot-10, 165-pound prospect who is exceptional in one-on-one coverage. Hearing from the Trojans is huge for Henderson, who has a 42-inch vertical leap and has been timed at 4.13 seconds in the shuttle.

"Recruiting is going really good right now and recently I just started getting recruited by SC so they started showing me a lot of love," Henderson said.

"It means a lot to me personally. I wanted to go to one of those Pac-10 schools and since I found out they started recruiting me my mental mindset goes up even that much more. It's like OK, I can ball with these Pac-10 people."

One of the first programs involved with Henderson was UCLA and the Bruins are still very much in the picture. Henderson said it personally means a lot that coach Rick Neuheisel and his staff have been recruiting him the longest and if an offer comes it would have to be seriously considered.

"UCLA has been there from the start," Henderson said. "That's been really good. It's very important because it shows me that people want me and I'm not just this regular athlete, everybody wants to come see me, come see me play and wants to see me do my best and it means a lot because they want me in their family and I take that very seriously.

"My mother wants me to stay close to home so the family can come to the games and stuff so that's pretty good and I like the whole surroundings of it. They have a really good academic program too so that would help me stay focused."

California recently contacted Henderson, who has impressed at multiple combines this off-season, so the Golden Bears are also on his growing list and the Rancho Verde prospect said he'd like to hear more from Oregon.

Air Force is Henderson's first offer and the Falcons are being taken seriously but if a Pac-10 school offered it might be tough to turn them down.

"Everything is a consideration," Henderson said. "It's a full ride at Air Force, a free education and I'm all about education so it's a free education so of course they're under consideration."