SILOAM SPRINGS — Siloam Springs 6-foot-8 forward Payton Henson was carrying a grin from ear to ear on his face before basketball practice on Wednesday afternoon. And on the inside was a feeling of extreme relief.
Henson, who was NWA Media’s Small Schools Boys Basketball Player of the Year for the 2011-12 season, gave his verbal commitment to Tulane University, ending a long, stressful recruitment that began the summer before his sophomore year.
As a junior in 2011, Henson averaged 24.7 points and 10.6 rebounds per game for the Panthers. As a sophomore he averaged 20.2 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. Having started since his freshman season, Henson’s 1,537 points rank third all-time on the Siloam Springs career scoring list behind leader Coleson Rakestraw (1,664) and Clark Sheehy (1,545).
Henson, who had around a dozen scholarship offers, narrowed his choices down to Tulane and Boston University. He was also offered by in-state schools Arkansas State, University of Arkansas-Fort Smith and John Brown.