ESPN RISE

From the minute word got out in August, Sickles (Tampa, Fla.) was buzzing. Newspaper articles were written, invitations to prestigious national tournaments were sent out and local kids were in awe.

John Henson was coming to town.

Rated the nation's No. 3 senior in the ESPNU 100, Henson is a 6-foot-10 power forward who has signed with North Carolina. After he played last year at Round Rock (Texas), his father got a job in Tampa, and Henson, along with sister Amber, one of the nation's top girls' players in the Class of 2011, enrolled at Sickles.

"The rumor hit pretty big," Sickles fourth-year coach Renaldo Garcia says. "We did the best we could to keep the noise down, but it really spread quickly. We don't have too many 6-foot-10 kids around here."

Henson had no idea how big it was until he walked into a barbershop during his first week in town. Before he could sit down in the chair, he was approached by a group of middle schoolers who knew everything about him.

"I heard them saying, 'That must be the guy from Sickles,'" Henson says. "Then they came over to me and were like, 'We heard you're the one jumping over people, dunking on people.'"

When Jordan Davis, Sickles' star junior guard, took Henson to a Gryphons football game, the big man in the stands drew more attention than anyone on the gridiron.

"These girls asked for his autograph, but he's so humble he doesn't like signing," Davis says. "He told them he wasn't good enough to sign autographs, but they kept begging him."

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Jay Carlson for ESPN RISE

John Henson fulfilled a dream when he committed to play for North Carolina.

It's not hard to see what all the fuss is about. Henson is the kind of player most programs are lucky to have once in a generation. He makes Sickles' gym the place to be on game nights, as fans can now see a likely future NBA baller leading a state title contender.

"It definitely created a lot of excitement on campus," Garcia says. "Our players were extremely excited about the possibility of playing with a kid like that. It was almost like, 'How lucky can we be?'"

If the Hensons had made this move just two years ago, it would have barely registered on anyone's radar. As a sophomore, Henson was your typical 6-foot-4 shooting guard. A year and a half later, he had sprouted six inches to his current height.

"He'd tell me he didn't have any long pants, and I was like, 'I just bought you pants three months ago,'" his father, Matt, says with a laugh.

At the time, the biggest hurt wasn't to his father's wallet but to Henson's legs. As a sophomore, adjusting to his body's ever-increasing height, he suffered through literal growing pains.

Whether it was Osgood-Schlatter disease, an ailment that affected his knees, or the plantar fasciitis that created excruciating pain in his feet, Henson had none of the speed or explosiveness that defined his game as a guard. When he came home, he'd shuffle around like an old man.

"I would come home from practice and my heels would be killing me, my knees would be killing me and I could barely walk," Henson says. "He was having trouble getting up the stairs," his father adds.

When Henson's junior year rolled around, he had grown into his body and neither steps nor opponents presented much of a challenge. Using the perimeter skills of a guard and the size of a center, Henson was unstoppable.

He averaged 24 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks per game for Round Rock as he shot up recruiting lists and became a target of nearly every major college program in the country.

UCLA, Texas and Arizona were among the schools to come calling early on, but they really never had a chance. Once Roy Williams and North Carolina offered, Henson had a chance to fulfill a childhood dream.

"I've always been a Carolina fan, so he didn't have much choice but to watch them a lot as a kid," Matt Henson says. "But when he was 8 years old we were watching a game and he told me, 'One day I'm going to play for North Carolina.'"

Before he gets to Chapel Hill, though, Henson has plenty he wants to work on. At 6-10, he has the height of a center, but at 195 pounds, the weight of a guard. While Henson is committed to getting stronger, he's also not intimidated going up against bigger players now. At the LeBron James Skills Academy last summer, Henson squared off against DeMarcus Cousins, the No. 4 player in the ESPNU 100, who checks in at 260 pounds.

"People try to challenge me, but I feel I can hold my own," Henson says. "I have something to prove when dudes like [Cousins] take me down low."

That's when Henson's backcourt experience sets him apart. Not only can he handle himself in the paint, but he'll take other bigs out to the perimeter, stroking the J or driving past them to finish with authority at the rim. "His skill level is off the charts," Garcia says.

Henson's exceptionally long arms make him a dominant defender. No shot is safe from Henson's outstretched hand.

With his numerous talents, Henson has proved himself one of the nation's best. But he wants more. Henson covets a state championship, and he's ready to turn his game up a notch as the postseason approaches.

He wants to show the kids in the barbershop, the girls at the football games, the writers along press row and everyone in between that the hype was justified.

Ryan Canner-O'Mealy covers high school sports for ESPN RISE.