NEW ARTICLE: What Do We Really Know About LaDontae Henton?

BEVERLY HILLS (MI) –- I mean besides the fact that he has the coolest hoops nickname ever -- “Buckets” -- what do we really know about Class of 2011 UD recruit LaDontae Henton? Well, it’s time we all found out a little somethin’ somethin’ about the dude, wouldn’t you agree? As they say in the Bud Light commercials, “Here we go”:

-- The very first mention of LaDontae Henton on this here website was back in December of 2008, in a response to one of my recruiting update posts on the MB and it wasn’t me who brought Henton up; it was fellow Michigan resident “Fat Tuna” who posted this:

“I was at "The Don" in Lansing this past weekend watching some great scrimmages. Teams included Southeastern, Pershing, Lansing Eastern, Sexton and Everett, Kalamazoo Central, Warren De LaSalle, Romulus, Benton Harbor, and Detroit Country Day. Country Day's squad features 3 players 6-10 or taller. However, they were beaten by Lansing Eastern and their tallest player....the extremely impressive 6'5" LaDontae Henton.”

To his credit, “Fat Tuna” has been high on “Buckets” from the get-go, providing scouting reports and singing his praises. Way to go, FT! Me? I always assumed that Henton was so good that he would eventually end up a Spartan.

-- LaDontae was the Lansing area POY…as a junior!

http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/a...aDontae-Henton

-- “The Evolution of Buckets”:

http://noise.typepad.com/get_prepped...kets.html#more

-- Jamal Richards’ WeFlyHighBallers.com had “Buckets” ranked as the #6 prospect in the Michigan HS Class of 2011, which seems low:

http://michiganballers.webs.com/2011...errankings.htm

-- If you’re not doing anything for the next hour, how about a full game video of an AAU tilt between LaDontae’s Michigan Mustangs squad (when he played for them) and the Michigan Warriors?

http://www.lifeinlansing.com/aau-bas...higan-mustangs

-- Here’s the Cliff Notes version: 2 and ½ minutes of LaDontae goodness, courtesy of YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oq-MW...ayer_embedded#!

-- And for those of you with really short attentions spans, how about :28 worth of Henton highlights:

http://www.maxpreps.com/local/player...3-E0EF40FC2B3E

-- Iowa State tried to hit the Michigan Daily Double by offering both LaDontae and his AAU buddy Trey McDonald:

http://www.cyclonefanatic.com/cyclon...ers-handed-out

-- Doug Harris at the DDN gets in on the fun:

http://www.daytondailynews.com/dayto...or-828490.html

-- Sam “The Chairman” Hosey of the Lansing Journal with the announcement that “Buckets” was gonna be a Flyer:

http://www.lifeinlansing.com/hoseys-...aded-to-dayton

Now with video goodness (be patient: you gotta watch Desmond Ferguson and LaDontae’s coach Rod Watts talk before Sam gets to “Buckets” at the 11:15 mark):

http://www.lifeinlansing.com/compone...ive-interviews

-- More from Dougie in the DDN, post commitment:

http://www.daytondailynews.com/dayto...ud-845079.html

-- And another piece from Harris on what sold LaDontae on the Flyers:

http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs...art_of_ud.html

-- Dave Telep of Scout.com (he just left Scout and signed with ESPN.com, BTW) on why it was crucial for schools like UD to nail down bigs like Percy Gibson and LaDontae early in the process:

http://iowa.scout.com/2/988338.html

-- A quote so good, I based a whole column on it:

"I don't buy into the high-major/mid-major stuff," Dayton commitment LaDontae Henton said. "I had high-major schools looking at me as well, but Dayton is a Top 25 team every year and consistently gets into the tournament. It was the right fit for me and the best situation."

Linky goodness:

http://www.maxpreps.com/news/E0J1T8E...ting-trail.htm

-- If the recruiting gods smile on BG, we could possibly end up with Javontae (Hawkins of Flint Powers HS in Michigan) and Deontae (“Teddy” Hawkins of Dayton Dunbar) to go with LaDontae. I can’t wait to hear Bucky trying to sort those three names out in a couple of years!

-- Most importantly, we can all rest assured that on November 10th LaDontae Henton is gonna sign an LOI to play hoops for BG at UD.

And that’s the best news of all.

That’s it “From the Swamp.”
You can email me at: swampy@udpride.com