WVU Legacy Chris Henry Jr. Remains Unsigned, Weighing All Options

Consensus five-star wide receiver Chris Henry Jr. has yet to sign on the dotted line with Ohio State, despite holding a ceremony on Wednesday. Buckeyes wide receiver coach Brian Hartline played a massive role in his recruitment, but was just recently hired as the next head coach at South Florida.

After many national outlets reported that he had signed with Ohio State, we all learned that had not been the case and that several schools, such as Oregon and USC, were still in hot pursuit, among others.

In the ten years that I've covered recruiting, this is, without question, the most I've heard a West Virginia signing class talked about by the national media.

They pulled off two stunners on the first day of the signing period, first flipping Penn State safety commit Matt Sieg, who was reported to be considering Indiana, Notre Dame, Penn State, Pitt, and Virginia Tech. And then later in the day, they flipped Wisconsin running back commit Amari Latimer. We can also lump in the flip of offensive lineman Kevin Brown, which happened a few weeks ago.

Rich Rodriguez is hellbent on fixing this thing and has been in play for several big-time recruits, including a handful that chose to sign elsewhere. Could they be in the mix for Henry Jr.? Yes. The question is, how serious a player are they in this recruiting battle? That's something only Henry and the WVU staff know.

Oregon, Ohio State, Texas, and USC all have the resources to do whatever it takes to land a top-tier talent like Henry. The one thing the Mountaineers have over the others is the Rich Rod/WVU factor, which could mean a great deal to him, considering this is the school and coach his father, Chris Sr., played for.

I'm not going to make any sort of prediction of where he lands because, quite frankly, it would be a shot in the dark. But the one thing we have learned from this year's signing period is that WVU can compete in the NIL space, and if there's someone Rich Rodriguez wants, he's going to have a chance. For Henry, though, the odds may be stacked against the Mountaineers, but until a signature is made and submitted, anything can happen.

MORE STORIES FROM WEST VIRGINIA ON SI