NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Analyzing top 3 teams for 5-star wing Shelton Henderson

One of the best NCAA Basketball class of 2025 wing prospects is Shelton Henderson, a consensus five-star player from Texas. He’s a 6’6 and 220-pound small forward with NBA-ready size and tremendous potential to be a natural 3 and D player. 

Henderson projects to be the type of prospect that can immediately impact the college level on Day 1 and start just about anywhere. Now, there are three programs in the mix to land him. Which of them is the best potential fit? Here’s a closer look below.

Duke Blue Devils

Even after landing the 5-star Boozer brothers (Cayden and Cameron), Duke still could use a star wing in the 2025 class. Because there's a strong chance that the two current 5-star freshmen (Isaiah Evans and Kon Knueppel could be one and done players to the NBA. There's plenty of appeal for a player to go to Duke but the one big question is will Henderson have less of a role here than he would with the other two options.

Louisville Cardinals

It's a new era at Louisville with Coach Pat Kelsey and the current roster should have them back in postseason contention. But with almost the entire roster being seniors, Henderson would be joining an unknown situation for the 2025-26 campaign. At the same time, he also could be the focal point for a nationally-recognized program and have the spotlight on him.

Texas Longhorns

The Longhorns are the local option for Henderson, who'd not only get to stay close to home but play in the tough SEC. The wing situation at Texas is fairly unknown after this year, with Jayson Kent moving on and 5-star freshman Tre Johnson potentially gone to the NBA. Henderson wouldn't have to worry about his role here and be one of the big names in the Lonestar state.

This is a unique recruitment in that all three options have distinct selling points, yet all have unknowns to them a year from now. The safest and riskiest option could very well be Duke but time will tell if thats's the direction Henderson goes.