From Baseball Obscurity To Basketball Paradise

When he was a high school Senior, CJ Henry had an interesting dilemma: attend the University of Kansas on a basketball scholarship, or sign with the Yankees, who drafted him 17th overall in 2005. He ended up signing a $1.7 million deal with the Yankees, but was traded to Philadelphia in the Bobby Abreu trade. In 2007, Henry was released and signed a minor league deal with the Yankees.

Henry spent 4 seasons in the minors, with a career line of .222/.296/.353 with just 17 HR. He walked only 79 times while striking out 313 times. The athleticism was always there, but clearly there was a disconnect between his talent and his command of the strike zone. He flashed tremendous potential with the glove, but coupled that with making 57 errors in his four year career.

Last year Henry walked on to the Memphis basketball team. He ended up redshirting.

After his brother Xavier committed to Kansas, CJ transferred. It is unknown how much time he will spend on the court for the preseason #1 team in the land, but he has aspirations of playing in the NBA. One thing is for sure, even if he spends four years on the bench, it doesn’t get much better than getting to spend it here.