ESPN Midwest recruiting Blog

Posted by Bill Kurelic

The recruiting timeline in the Midwest is far different than it is in the South, and, to a lesser extent, the West. Most of the top prospects in Big Ten country select their college before September arrives, and this year is no exception.

That is why, as the college football season kicks off each year, recruiting fans from the Big Ten region are often just as interested in the top junior prospects as they are the seniors. Monday was the first day written scholarship offers could be sent to juniors.

Offensive lineman Seantrel Henderson (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham) is a strong candidate for the No. 1 Class of 2010 prospect in the Midwest. Recruiters were clamoring over Henderson early in his sophomore season. By the end of the campaign Henderson had helped his team win 13 straight games and a spot in the state championship contest.

Henderson has the entire package. At 6-foot-8 and 310 pounds, he has prototypical offensive tackle size. Henderson can bench press 300 pounds and is athletic, averaging 12 points and seven rebounds per game on the Cretin-Derham basketball team his sophomore season. He's also in good shape academically with a 3.0 GPA.

Minnesota coach Tim Brewster has made landing Henderson a priority. He made sure the talented lineman received his scholarship offer very quickly but wasn't alone. By Sept. 3 Henderson had written offers in hand from Minnesota, Notre Dame, Wisconsin and Michigan.

The Gophers are far from a lock to land the state of Minnesota's No. 1 class of 2010 prospect.

"Coach Brewster told us he really wants to keep Seantrel at home," said Sean Henderson, Seantrel's father. "He said he is going to do everything he can. I told him he's going to have to try real hard. We are waiting for an offer from USC. That's who we like."

Ohio State, Oklahoma, UCLA, North Carolina, Michigan State, North Carolina and Iowa are just some of the many other schools making their pitch for Henderson. It may not be long until Pete Carroll and the Trojans join in.

Midwest Notes
• Another one of the Midwest's top junior offensive line prospects, Matt James (Cincinnati/St. Xavier), has received written scholarship offers from Ohio State, Tennessee, Illinois, Stanford and Cincinnati. He is expecting Michigan and Duke to soon join in with written offers. James will likely attend games at Ohio State, Notre Dame, Tennessee and Cincinnati over the next two months.

• Wisconsin is home this weekend taking on Marshall while Penn State welcomes in Oregon State, and Bret Bielema and Joe Paterno will each welcome in a prospect on an official visit. Linebacker A.J. Fenton (Erie, Pa./McDowell) will make an official visit to Wisconsin. Fenton has a scholarship offer from the Badgers as well as three other Big Ten schools -- Illinois, Iowa and Indiana. Wide receiver Devon Smith (Waldorf, Md./Westlake) makes an official visit to Penn State. Smith has offers from Penn State, Temple, Akron and Eastern Michigan.

• Michigan travels to South Bend, Ind., the weekend of Sept. 13 to take on Notre Dame, and the Irish are hoping to take advantage on the recruiting front that weekend. At least three prospects are expected on official visits: defensive end Davon Custis (Columbus, Ohio/St. Francis DeSales), defensive lineman Chris Bonds (Columbia, S.C./Richland Northeast) and already committed DB/QB E.J. Banks (McKees Rock, Pa./Montour).