"John will begin the season on the perimeter as a three and I think he will stay there all season. He has tremendously long arms and will probably block more shots than any perimeter player in college basketball. With Ed (Davis) and Deon (Thompson), we may block more shots than any team I’ve ever coached. John has the ability with his length to hurt you inside and also step out and put the ball on the floor or shoot it."
For some reason this was apparently a debate of epic proportions on IC along the lines of Lincoln vs Douglas. Folks over there felt very passionately about Henson playing at the wing forward spot or playing on the interior. I have always assumed Henson was destined to play the small forward spot for a myriad reasons foremost among them, UNC's experienced depth at the four and five spots. UNC has Deon Thompson, Ed Davis and Tyler Zeller already slated to play at power forward and center. Add to those three, David and Travis Wear that gives you five bodies for two spots. Meanwhile UNC has very few options for the three. Larry Drew is a PG. Dexter Strickland and Leslie McDonald likewise are too small for the PF slot as is Justin Watts. That leaves Marcus Ginyard and Will Graves. Because UNC lacks depth at the point, Ginyard is going to spend most of his time at the two spot and spelling Drew some at the point. So unless UNC is going to go through the season with Will Graves as the only PF, Henson will have to play at the three. Just for kicks here is a very early and highly speculative look at what I think the depth chart will look like:
PG: Drew/Strickland
SG: Ginyard/McDonald/Watts
SF: Henson/Graves
PF: Thompson/Wear Twins
C: Davis/Zeller
The only reason I can think of for Henson being considered for interior duty is the fact he is 6-10. True but he is also rail thin at 195 lbs. Henson is a face the basket player who, according to his Scout.com profile lacks strength and does not rebound in traffic particularly well. Sorry, but that is not someone you want banging in the middle. Henson will be plenty effective on the perimeter since he is a good shooter. On defense his 6-10 frame and long arms is going to make him a matchup nightmare for most anyone UNC plays.
Based on what we know right now, I like how this team is fitting together on paper. Obviously many things could change once practice starts and UNC plays live competition. Still, I think this will be a fun team to watch, potentially a beast on defense and putting Henson at PF will make for some interesting basketball in my opinion.