Five-star recruit Shelton Henderson flips from Duke to University of Miami

Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald on Apr 21, 2025

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MIAMI — New coach Jai Lucas promised a “big overhaul” of the University of Miami men’s basketball program, and so far, he is delivering.

He announced on Monday the signing of five-star recruit Shelton Henderson, a Houston native who had committed to Duke but changed his mind and chose to follow Lucas, the former Blue Devils assistant coach who was his primary recruiter.

Henderson, a 6-6 and 220-pound small forward, is ranked the No. 21 player in the nation and the fourth-best small forward in the class of 2025, per 247Sports. He attends Bellaire High School, Lucas’ alma mater.

“Shelton is someone I have known for a long time and I am very familiar with him and his family,” Lucas said. “He has an exceptional work ethic and fearlessness on the court, but what I am most excited about is the impact he will have in our locker room and on the program as a whole.”

As a senior, Henderson was named the All-Greater Houston Player of the Year and won the Guy V. Lewis award after averaging 22.3 points, 7.5 rebounds, four assists and three steals per game. The forward shot 69% from the field and led the Cardinals on a historic run to the 6A Division I state championship game

Henderson won a gold medal with USA Basketball at the FIBA U18 AmeriCup last summer, averaging 8.0 points and 4.5 rebounds in six games.

He also stood out on the 2024 EYBL spring circuit, averaging 14.8 points and 6.3 rebounds per game and averaged 14.7 points and 4.6 rebounds at the Nike Peach Jam in the summer.

Henderson had been part of Duke’s No. 1-rated recruiting class, along with twins Cameron and Cayden Boozer of Miami Columbus High. He asked to be released from his letter of intent last week, and Miami and Houston were among the leaders to get his signature.

He is the second Top 50 recruit from the class of 2025 to sign with the Hurricanes, joining No. 41 Dante Allen (per ESPN100), a Miami native, a four-star shooting guard and the son of Heat assistant coach Malik Allen.

Allen de-committed from Villanova and was Lucas’ first high school recruit to join UM. He led Riviera Prep to back-to-back state titles his sophomore and juniors seasons before transferring to Montverde Academy for his senior year. He averaged 21 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.4 steals and 3 assists for Riviera and was the two-time Miami Herald 4A-2A Player of the Year.

He joins his former Nightrydas AAU coach Andrew Moran at Miami. Moran, the Columbus High coach, last week was hired as an assistant coach and director of player development for the Hurricanes.

Slovakian wing Timotej Malovec signed with UM last week, and Lucas also lured four transfers: Tre Donaldson (Michigan), Malik Reneau (Indiana), Ernest Udeh (TCU) and Tru Washington (New Mexico).

Lucas replaces retired coach Jim Larranaga, who led the Canes to the Elite Eight in 2022 and the Final Four in 2023. The team fell to last place in 2024-25.

In addition to Moran, Lucas hired other assistant coaches with South Florida roots. Charlton “C.Y,” Young, a Miami Gardens Carol City High legend with three decades of coaching experience, is Lucas’ associate head coach. University of Georgia assistant Erik Pastrana, who attended Wellington High, will be an associate coach.

LJ Rose, an international scout for the Houston Rockets and general manager of the Bahamian national team, was hired as Director of Player Personnel. Zack Zillner, the UM Director of Sports Performance, held a similar title for the University of Texas women’s basketball team.

Riley Welch was brought in as Lucas’ special assistant. Most recently, he was on staff for the Grand Rapids Gold, the NBA G League affiliate of the Denver Nuggets, first as a video coordinator (2023-24) and, in 2024-25, as an assistant coach.

Jeff Dyer, who has served as the Miami men’s basketball director of operations since 2021, will stay on in the same role for Lucas.

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