This was a tough one. Coach Henson went into the fall signing for class of 1985 prospects with just 2 scholarships. There were three top shelf in-state forward prospects; Simeon's Ben Wilson, Lowell Hamilton, and Horton. Wilson would not be deciding until spring. After Hamilton committed, Henson had to hold one for Wilson, rather than counting on something opening up. Otherwise, if he used both scholarships; DePaul and IU recruiters could and would use that to try and sway Wilson.
So, rather than pull the Horton offer, they scared him off by suggesting he would need to red-shirt -- since they had Winters, Meents, Welch, Norman, and Shafer returning, and were adding Hamilton, not to mention the two West German 7 footers coming off a red-shirt season. Sadly, it all became moot a short time later ... Also, two scholarships did open up. Class of 83 recruit Shafer left at the semester, and class of 1984 recruit Scott Haffner left after the season.
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In a way, Henson had painted himself into a corner with past recruiting decisions for 1983 and especially 1984. I still don't understand why he took Olaf Blab in 1984. There is his third scholarship to sign Horton. Also, why take Tom Shafer and Scott Haffner if you're not going to play them? In addition, 6-3 Class of 1984 guard Glynn Blackwell from Highland Park, Michigan was a good solid player for us. I am not knocking him. However, we could've had a star in Hersey Hawkins from Chicago Westinghouse. Hawkins was a 6-3 center in high school, and Henson did not think he could make the transition to college guard.
Others: Mo Cheeks 1974, Mitchell J. J. Anderson 1978. Voise Winters 1981, Tim Hardaway 1985.
No idea on Cheeks. I don't think they recruited Anderson at all. I think they tried to get in on Voise Winters too late. Obviously not enough rides for Hardaway.
As an aside: Tony Yates became HC at Cincinnati for the 1983-84 season and was replaced by Jimmy Collins. Just an aside! Collins helped Henson take recruiting to another level in 1986.