Making a college decision is often a family decision, and for the nation’s number one recruit, that is no different. Much has been written about Cretin’s Seantrel Henderson, and the five-star recruit often touts the importance of his parents and family in his life and in his college decision.

I was fortunate enough to watch Seantrel's Cretin-Derham Hall Raiders basketball team take on Champlin Park last night, with Cretin pulling out a double overtime victory. You can instantly tell how involved his family is in his life, as he had an entire cheering section rooting him on, including his parents and grandmothers. Even though Seantrel is the nation's number one football recruit, they are not only cheering him on while playing sports, but more importantly they are in the classroom as well. Many families would only be looking at what football program could do the most for their son, but Henderson's family is looking at which university can teach him the most on and off the field.

GopherHole spoke with Seantrel’s parents, Bree Jasper and Sean Henderson to get their thoughts on the campus visits, home visits, and chaos surrounding Seantrel’s recruitment.


GH: Could you have ever imagined the media circus around your son?

Bree: Not at this magnitude, but we’re not done yet so we’ll just keep enjoying it.


GH: What’s the best part of the recruitment and what’s the worst?

Sean: The best part of it is the opportunity that Seantrel has in front of him. The worst part is the phone calls.


GH: How many phone calls you do you get a day?

Sean: It depends on what’s going on. If we have visits coming up we’ll get between 10-30 calls per day.


GH: Have you gone on all of the visits with Seantrel?

Sean: Yes we have.


GH: Tell me your impressions of the visits. Let’s start with Notre Dame.

Bree: I like the program and the academics. The facilities were nice. He saw his friends from Cretin, like Michael Floyd, and that was nice to see them.


GH: Will the coaching change at Notre Dame affect Seantrel’s decision?

Sean: No, we just wanted to make sure that they were stable and a got a good coach. A good coach is a good coach; it wasn’t going to affect it either way. The education aspect doesn’t change no matter who the coach is and neither does the prestige of the program.


GH: How was the Ohio State visit?

Sean: The level of support that they show the team at Ohio State is great – it’s second to none. The big stage they play on is amazing.


GH: How about the USC visit?

Bree: The city is beautiful. They have a lot of support too. The football program is amazing.

Sean: The biggest thing with USC is they play in LA which is the second largest media market so he’ll have a better chance to be known worldwide. They had an up and down this year but they have a great education there and great players and coaches. We spent a lot of time with them.


GH: When will you visit Florida?

Sean: Next Saturday.


GH: What about Oklahoma?

Sean: Oklahoma, Miami or Iowa will be our last trip and we’ll do that sometime around the last week of January.


GH: You took an unofficial to Iowa recently, how was that?

Sean: We’ve also taken many unofficial visits to Minnesota.


GH: An Iowa source says that Iowa leads right now. Is that true?

Sean: There is no lead right now. Everyone has different things to offer.


GH: How was the recent in-home visit with Coach Tim Brewster?

Bree: It was a good visit. We’ve gotten to know Tim quite a bit over the last few years. It was a nice visit and a good feel with the offensive line coach in Tim Davis.


GH: Do you look at the Gophers’ 6-6 season as an opportunity?

Sean: USC lost four games and they were all conference games so you can’t always look at that. Seantrel isn’t playing with them right now but he could be an asset for them. Sometimes teams go through developmental stages. Minnesota, USC, and Ohio State they are all going through development and Seantrel can be an asset for all of them.


GH: Will you encourage Seantrel to stay in college for four years, or do you think it is likely he would leave early for the NFL if given the opportunity?

Sean: We’ll stretch Seantrel’s years in college and after a few years we can evaluate it. We want him to stretch the educational aspect and go around that and go to summer school so he’s on track to graduate after four years.


GH: From a mother’s perspective, which coach have you liked the best?

Bree: I like them all. They are all different in different areas which is good.


GH: If you were to name a percentage that Seantrel stays home and plays for the Gophers, what would it be?

Bree: I don’t know a percentage right now. They are in the running with the best of them.


Part II: The nation's #1 - Seantrel Henderson lists the pros and cons of the schools he's visited

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