Updated 11 a.m. Monday, Dec. 23:
The Kansas football coaching staff continues to reap the rewards of its extensive efforts to recruit wide receivers in the transfer portal. On Monday morning, Alabama transfer Emmanuel Henderson Jr. signed with KU, his representation from A&P Sports Agency announced.
Henderson joins fellow wideouts Cam Pickett (from Ball State) and Levi Wentz (from Albany) in the Jayhawks’ new-look receiving corps. He reportedly scheduled visits to schools like Kansas State, Texas A&M and Virginia before eventually deciding on KU.
At least by high school recruiting rankings, Henderson is among the highest-touted players to join the Jayhawks in recent memory. He is a converted running back out of Hartford, Alabama, who was a top-five player at that position out of high school but served primarily as a receiver and special teamer for the Crimson Tide. As a freshman in 2022, he caught a pass for 14 yards and recorded one tackle; the following year, he added two more tackles.
Most recently, in 2024 he tallied four catches for 82 yards, including a 34-yard reception in the Tide’s victory over Georgia, to go with four tackles, while returning five kicks. In all, Henderson played 199 snaps on offense and 462 on special teams in three seasons at Alabama. He will have one year left to play.
Henderson is the second player to make the move from Alabama to Kansas this offseason after cornerback Jahlil Hurley.
The 6-foot-1 wide receiver immediately becomes one of quarterback Jalon Daniels’ primary pass-catching options for the 2025 season, along with Pickett, Wentz, returnees Doug Emilien and Keaton Kubecka and tight ends Keyan Burnett and DeShawn Hanika.
KU must now decide if it wants to try to lock down a fourth transfer-portal wideout after maintaining consistent reported interest in players like Columbia’s Bryson Canty, Hawaii’s Dekel Crowdus and Akron’s Bobby Golden.
AP Photo/Vasha Hunt
