One Major Change Could Shift Miami's Star Sophomore Into an NBA Lottery Pick

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — The Miami Hurricanes have one of the best rosters in the country headed into the 2026-27 season. Moreover, they have a potential lottery pick leading the charge, who has brought a new level to his game.

6-foot-6 forward Shelton Henderson returns for his second season as a Hurricane after taking some fillers for the NBA with two goals in mind: winning and knowing down more jumpers.

Those bunnies outside of some midrange shots would be the one thing holding Henderson from being a lottery pick in the last NBA Draft. Many draft scouts wanted the star forward to return for another year to improve his jump shot.

He has, with some minor tweaks. The goal is to increase his three-point percentage from 25.7 from beyond the arc.

"I tweaked my jumper a little bit," Henderson said during the first day of official practice. "But probably a thousand shots a day every day, just getting here with the guys, working, with [Coach] Moran, doing him a lot, Dame, but he left and went to the Mavericks now, but he helped my shot a lot. I give a lot of credit to him.

"I lowered release. I feel like last year I was bringing it back too far and just couldn't control what I wanted to control, but a lower release just helped me a lot. I feel a lot more confident, a lot more confident."

Henderson averaged 13.8 points per game on 56.7 percent shooting from the field. He is the best freshman in the country at attacking the paint, and giving him a jump shot puts him in the ACC and National Player of the Year conversation.

His best freshman performance came against Purdue in Miami's elimination in the Round of 32 in the 2026 NCAA Tournament.

Shelton Henderson today vs Purdue..

18 PTS (9/11 FG, 0/1 3PT)
8 REB
4 AST
2 STL

Such a fun player to watch. I expect him to test the waters in the combine and see what feedback he receives..He’s a future NBA player for sure. Whether he leaves this year or next year is what we… pic.twitter.com/M4U3mtWDAg
— Frankie Vision (@Frankie_Vision) March 22, 2026

That confidence pushed Henderson into the star player he grew into last season. Head coach Jai Lucas trusts him to make that next leap in his game, and it's also one of the many reasons why he stayed in college instead of hitting the draft waters.

"Just the amount of trust I have in Coach Lucas," Henderson said. "He's been with me since recruiting days, and we came from the same place, same background. So just being able to trust him on a personal level just helped me stay here."

Now with the season less than a month away, Henderson is ready for anything and is ready to get back to playing meaningful games.

"Just staying the course, not looking forward to anything that's ahead of us, just staying on our feet and just having fun and enjoying the process and just going along with it," Henderson said.

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