Seantrel Henderson Named Rivals Junior of the Year

One of, if not the most important recruits for Notre Dame’s class of 2010 is Cretin-Derham Hall’s Seantrel Henderson.  The massive left tackle will very likely be the consensus #1 tackle prospect next year and with the Irish needing tackles after coming up short this year its easy to see why.

Henderson’s high school, Cretin-Derham Hall, has also become somewhat of a feeder school for Notre Dmae over the last 8 years. Rashon Powers-Neal, Ryan Harris, Matt Carufel (whoops), and Michael Floyd all starred for Cretin-Derham in their prep years before heading to Notre Dame. Matt Carufel’s unceremonious exit from Notre Dame could hurt the Irish’s chances, but Michael Floyd attended Notre Dame after Carufel’s departure.

Here’s an excerpt from Rivals’s story on Henderson being named the Junior of the Year.

“Me and my family will sit down and talk,” he says. “We’ll look for education first. I don’t know what I want to do, but everybody can’t go to the NFL. I’ll be looking for what can help me and my future.”

In that case, he should look for a school with a strong accounting curriculum. Someday, he’ll need to be good with large numbers.

“He’ll be a millionaire,” says Cretin-Derham Hall volunteer offensive line coach Ray Hitchcock, who earned a Super Bowl ring while playing guard and center with the Washington Redskins for three seasons in the late 1980s. “He’s tough and coachable, and he gets what you’re telling him.”

Maybe that’s because he gets an abundance of expert coaching. Jon Alt, a former Kansas City Chiefs tackle, also is a volunteer coach because his son is Cretin-Derham Hall’s quarterback.

“Coach Alt tells me to be violent on the field,” Henderson says. “Coach Hitchcock is more of a technician.”

With Christian Lombard already in the fold at tackle, Henderson would give the Irish a tandem at tackle no school will likely be able to match for the class of 2010.