C.J. Henry was originally a Kansas commit in the class of 2005 — along with national title winners Mario Chalmers and Brandon Rush — but he wouldn’t suit up for the Jayhawks until four long years later.

After opting for a professional baseball career instead of attending Kansas straight out of high school, Henry spent four injury-plagued years split between the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies. Though he hasn’t played in a competitive basketball game since his senior year of high school, he said he isn’t worried about any falling off in his abilities.

“I’ve worked hard, shoot, too hard this summer to be worried about what somebody else is doing or how I’m going to match up with somebody else,” Henry said. “I know I’m going to go out there and I’m going to do me and if that’s not enough, shoot, I’ll go out there and work harder.”

He will have four years of eligibility for the Jayhawks. Despite spending the last season at Memphis, he was unable to play because of a foot injury and took a medical redshirt, meaning he’ll be listed as a redshirt freshman.

Henry’s arrival on campus has been somewhat overshadowed by the arrival of his younger brother — it would be inaccurate to call the 6-foot-6 Xavier his little brother — who carries the expectations of being a top-ten recruit.

Expectations are in no short supply for C.J. either, though, as their father Carl let the Kansas City Star know over the summer.

“I don’t like stepping on people’s toes,” Carl Henry told the Star, “but I just know what I know. I watch them play, all the Kansas kids. I like all these kids, (Sherron) Collins, (Tyshawn Taylor), they’re good kids, man. But they’re not better than C.J.”

C.J. was hesitant to echo his father’s sentiments, though, and said that he hoped he and Collins and Taylor could play off each other at the same high level.

“My dad’s a little outspoken sometimes,” C.J. said. “If you get him riled up the right way, he’ll probably say anything. I think he was just seeing how hard we were working, putting in like four hours a day in a gym with no air conditioning, just about to pass out.”

The Henrys were practicing in a different gym than the rest of the Jayhawks, opting to work out at home in Oklahoma City instead of with the team in Lawrence. They attributed this to a few things that they needed to clear up in Oklahoma — Xavier had his braces removed and had root canals on his two front teeth this summer — and junior guard Tyrel Reed insisted that it wasn’t an issue for the players who worked out with the team.

“We know that they had some stuff going on,” Reed said. “Xavier had to do some stuff with the dentist. C.J. was battling some stuff with his foot. They’re going to be good players regardless.”

Although most of the press has been devoted to Xavier’s appearance, the younger Henry assured them that C.J. would soon be making his own name known.

“People will see when they come watch us play,” Xavier said. “They won’t be like ‘Oh, he’s my brother.’ They’ll say, ‘That’s C.J.’”

— — Edited by Sarah Kelly