The quick rise of Houston QB commit Keisean Henderson continues at Battle 7v7 South Florida

FORT LAUDERDALE – Nine drives for Keisean Henderson. Nine touchdown passes.

It was another dominant day on the field on Saturday for the Houston (Texas) Legacy On300 quarterback who was named On3’s Top Performer following day one of an absolutely star-studded field at this weekend’s Battle 7v7 South Florida.

Nothing new for the 6-foot-4, 180-pound Henderson who is fresh off being named On3’s top performer at the Navy All-American Bowl. He is on fire right now and the terrific play continues in the Sunshine State.

“Being able to go out there and perform the way I did and be confident in myself and my ability to tell everybody I’m playing quarterback and showing my talents,” Henderson said.

There was a time when a lot of college coaches had Henderson marked as an athlete prospect that could play receiver on the next level. Easy to see why. He saw spot duty as a freshman quarterback throwing for 357 yards and a touchdown but he was dynamic as a pass catcher with 1,135 yards receiving and 14 touchdowns. 

Henderson is obviously a dynamic playmaker with this legs but he always had an eye on quarterback. The first college coach to see him that way was Houston head coach Willie Fritz.

Fritz has priotized Keisean Henderson for years

Going back to his time at Tulane, Fritz and his staff had Henderson in camp and prioritized him as a quarterback. That relationship was a smooth transition when he got the job at Houston in December 2023, and Henderson didn’t take long to commit, jumping in the fold this past May.

“It was a great belief,” Henderson said. He blossomed under center as a sophomore throwing for 21 touchdowns and just three interceptions. By that time Fritz was already ahead of the game.

“It was one of those you can feel from the phone. When I got the call from Coach Fritz after I went to the camp that he believed in me to play quarterback and nobody else had, that belief in me at the time made me feel I could run through a brick wall for him. Just the loyalty they’ve been having in me, by watching me go through this receiver stuff at 7on7 just knowing it was for fun and nothing that I really wanted to do. They just believe in me and that the narrative everyone else painted wasn’t a real narrative.”

Fritz did some special things at Tulane. The 2022 team won 12 games including the Cotton Bowl to finish No. 9 in the country. The 2023 team won 11 more games earning him the job at Houston. Henderson was excited to see Fritz coming his way.

“It made it even more easier to be able to communicate with him because he’s 35 minutes down the road between him and (quarterbacks coach) Coach (Shawn) Bell.”

The belief and loyalty to Fritz is strong as well

Similar to the belief they had in him, Henderson has in Fritz and the staff. So he committed to help jumpstart things on the trail.

And Henderson still loves the program trajectory. The Cougars went 4-8 this past fall.

“This year was a foundational year,” he said. “Just watching them go through this foundational year and keep a good mindset and compete with the best of the best and Top 25 teams in the conference and be able to compete with them and win games, tough games it shows me they’re fighting as a program.”

Other programs are now coming after Keisean Henderson

As a junior Henderson took a big leap and made good on over 65 percent of his attempts for 2,689 yards and 25 touchdowns with another seven rushing scores. Now others are believing in him as a quarterback. The On3 Industry currently pegs him as the No. 5 signal-caller in the class and No. 18 prospect overall. Auburn, Ole Miss and North Carolina have offered. Exciting phones calls but Henderson says he remains locked in with Houston. It will be up to those programs to change that moving forward.

“I’ll definitely keep in contact with them,” Henderson said. “I’m moreso looking for the future. You never know where a coach is going to end up at. A coach might end up in the U of H locker room or they might end up in the pros. It’s a moving game. Being able to keep long-lasting relationships with coaches makes it way easy to communicate with people.”

Keisean Henderson doesn’t have any visit plans.

“That’s something I got to talk to my family about,” he said. “Something I’ll definitely consider or think about myself. Right now it’s been a lot of moving pieces. I don’t have a plan.”

Henderson is pretty even-keel but that offer from Auburn got his attention.

“I was more so stunned,” he said. “Auburn just being one of those big cultural programs. For them to offer me and say they wanted me to play quarterback, listening to them talk was one of those eye-opening experiences that anything can happen.”

The main focus is still on Houston

In the meantime Henderson will keep helping Houston recruit.

“My No. 1 is Jermaine Bishop Jr. right now,” Henderson said. Paris Melvin, Cardae Mack, I’m starting local and moving my way out. Those are my three biggest targets on the rip.”

As Henderson continues to play well and people see what Fritz always saw, he’s going to become the top target of more and more programs.