By Chris Williams, CycloneFanatic.com Publisher
It didn’t take Cornell Mann long to make an impact on Iowa State’s basketball program.
Mann, who was officially named to Fred Hoiberg’s assistant coaching staff on Wednesday, brought 2011 recruiting target LaDontae Henton to town earlier this week for an official visit. Henton, a 6-foot-6, 215-pound combo out of Lansing (Mich) Eastern, was released from his scholarship to Dayton on April 12, after former Flyer head coach Brian Gregory jetted for Georgia Tech last month.
Mann was the coach who originally courted Henton to Dayton. Now that Mann calls Ames home, Iowa State is a potential landing spot for Henton, who is back home in Michigan as of Saturday afternoon.
“I met him (Mann) when I was in seventh grade,” Henton told CycloneFanatic.com on Saturday afternoon. “That’s when he started recruiting me. You’ll probably never find that kind of relationship with an assistant coach and a player.”
In addition to Mann, Henton saw several familiar faces during his time in Ames, including longtime friend Chris Allen, who will be a senior for the Cyclones next season. Allen recently transferred to Iowa State via Michigan State, which is located in Lansing, Henton’s hometown.
“I’ve known him since my freshman year,” Henton said. We always played open gym together and worked out together.”
“The visit was a lot of fun. I hung out with the guys and played some open gym. We had a good time. I got to check out the academic programs. It was nice.”
Iowa State recruited Henton before he originally committed to Dayton. Iowa State associate head coach T.J. Otzelberger was his primary recruiter at that time.
Henton currently claims a scholarship offer from head coach Fred Hoiberg.
“He said that he could see me playing three positions and that I could really run the floor,” Henton said.
Henton said that he plans on taking three more official visits before making an official decision sometime over a month from now.
“I’m not sure where yet,” Henton said.
According to his profile on Rivals.com, Henton will visit Penn State next weekend.
Henton said that along with Iowa State, he’s currently considering Penn State, Providence, Florida, Baylor, Texas and Marquette.
