APSU Sports Information
Clarksville, TN – The Austin Peay State University Men’s Basketball team’s signing of two prep standouts kicked off early signing period for head coach Dave Loos, which picked up Bowling Green, Kentucky’s Terry Taylor and Richard Henderson Jr. of Maryland Heights, Missouri, to open the period.
“I’m happy with both of them,” said head coach Dave Loos. “They can both really hit the boards hard and chase the ball down. I think they can both come in and contribute.
Taylor, a 6-6 forward from Bowling Green High School, averaged 15.3 points and 11.9 rebounds per game as a junior under head coach D.G. Sherrill and has shone brightly on one of the biggest stages in prep basketball—the Kentucky High School Athletic Association Boys Basketball Tournament.
Taylor and the Purples advanced to the KHSAA quarterfinals last season on the strength of his 23-point, 14-rebound performance against Elliott County; he earned all-tournament accolades as a sophomore when Bowling Green advanced to the state title game—where Taylor led the team with 16 points—and was part of a semifinal run as a freshman.
A winner throughout his prep career, Taylor enters his senior campaign 91-16 as a player at Bowling Green, earning all-state honors for 2014-15 and all-district and all-region each of the past two seasons.
The addition of Taylor makes it three Governors with Bowling Green ties—he will join Warren Central alums Jared Savage and Chris Porter-Bunton on the Austin Peay roster next fall. Taylor spent his summer on the AAU circuit with We All Can Go 17U out of Nashville.
“It’s always important to get guys out of good programs who have won,” Loos said. “Terry’s been in a winning program, which is a big plus.”
Henderson comes to Austin Peay via Pattonville High School in the St. Louis suburbs. The 6-6, 210-pound post player averaged 16.2 points and 8.6 boards as a junior for Kelly Thames, hitting better than 60 percent from the floor, including a perfect 13-for-13 night in his 28-point, 10-board outing against St. Charles. Henderson also served as Pattonville’s rim protector, averaging 2.4 blocks per game.
He averaged a double-double as a sophomore, posting 13 points and 10 boards per outing to go with an eye-popping 84.3 percent (140-of-166) mark from the floor; combined, Henderson shot better than 70 percent from the floor as a sophomore and junior.
Pattonville plays in the Suburban XII League-South Division—which Henderson was named first-team all-league in back-to-back years—the same league as Webster Groves, which produced current Governor Steve Harris. He played summer ball for the St. Louis Eagles 17U team that qualified for the Nike EYBL Peach Jam.
“He’s a man right now,” Loos said of Henderson. “He can really go after the ball.”
Wednesday opened the week-long early signing period. The 2016-17 regular period for basketball NLI signing runs from April 12th-May 17th, 2017.
