photo by: AP Photo/Vasha Hunt

Alabama wide receiver Emmanuel Henderson Jr. (3) takes the field for the kickoff to start the first half of an NCAA college football game against South Carolina, Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

When Kansas took to the transfer portal looking for experienced receivers for the 2025 season, it tried to find players who fit similar archetypes to the Jayhawks who had just graduated.

As wide receivers coach Terrence Samuel put it, they got a Lawrence Arnold-type body in securing the services of Levi Wentz, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound Albany transfer. Cam Pickett, formerly of Ball State, works kind of like Luke Grimm.

Emmanuel Henderson Jr. has some traits that make him resemble Quentin Skinner. But, to hear Henderson himself tell it, he’s faster than the former Jayhawk standout.

Indeed, Henderson is very, very fast. He said he recently ran 21.8 mph in pads. Strength coach Matt Gildersleeve said Henderson is going to be “special.”

“He’s probably one of the fastest receivers I’ve ever guarded,” said cornerback D.J. Graham II, a sixth-year senior now playing for his third school. “He’s explosive, but not only is he fast but he’s quick.”

Wentz, a fifth-year player also at his third program, took it a step further: “That’s probably — nah, not probably, that’s the fastest receiver I’ve ever been around.”

For the coaching staff, though, that may not even be Henderson’s defining attribute.

“He is a wonderful person,” Samuel said on Tuesday. “That’s the first thing that stands out. We got guys that fit the room. Emmanuel is, in addition to being a great person, he works hard. His skill set is really high, but his ability to work is even higher.”

“He’s really a quiet guy that goes about his work,” head coach Lance Leipold added. “I really love the young man as a person and what he brings to our team. He can be a good weapon for us. He’s a fine addition.”

In the winter portal, Samuel said the staff was trying to ensure it recruited wideouts who could “do things we can’t coach” when they got their hands on the ball.

“If I’m coaching you and I’m getting you to the right place doing the right thing and you fall down, you’re just a possession receiver,” Samuel said. “What separates you from being a big-time wide receiver is once you catch the ball, do you do something different? Do you do something that I can’t coach?”

Henderson’s speed would seem to fit that requirement.

Now listed at 6-foot-1, 190 pounds, he was once a five-star running-back prospect, the No. 2 player at that position in the 2022 class. Alabama quickly converted him to wideout, but it was still apparent to Samuel and KU’s staff that Henderson “ran angry” when he got the ball with the Tide.

“Jalon Daniels doesn’t need a guy to just catch the ball and fall down,” Samuel said. “He needs the guy that can catch the ball and then get up the field and do something.”

Primarily a special-teams contributor at Alabama under two coaching staffs over the course of three years, Henderson has just five career catches but 661 snaps, according to Pro Football Focus. He wanted more playing time.

“That was a big factor for me,” Henderson said. “Coming in for my last year, I needed somewhere to come in and make a quick impact. KU was the best answer.”

It didn’t take him long to garner the sort of glowing reviews he got from Graham, Wentz and the coaching staff.

Wentz jelled well with Henderson when they were on their visits to KU together, and then when they both ended up picking KU, the senior from Hartford, Alabama, made his talent apparent quite quickly.

“A week into being on campus we started running routes, and I’m looking back like, ‘Dang. That boy can move a little bit.'” Wentz said. “You watch him play for five minutes, you know that he’s got a different type of skill set. That’s an electric guy right there.”

In general, the wideouts have “bonded very well,” Wentz said, even though their group is almost entirely new: the three transfers join three early enrollees, Jackson Cook, Bryson Hayes and Tate Nagy, and two main returners in Doug Emilien and Keaton Kubecka. (Columbia transfer Bryson Canty and two-sport freshman Jaden Nickens will arrive in the fall; in the meantime, Samuel has used FaceTime to allow them to attend receiver meetings virtually.)

“No growing pains, none of that,” Wentz said. “We get around each other, we have a good time. That makes it a lot more enjoyable.”

Added Henderson: “We’ve just been building chemistry, hanging out with each other outside of football, learning everybody’s life situation and getting to know them as a person.”

In the meantime, though they have spent time with Daniels, KU’s sixth-year senior starting quarterback, they have not gotten a significant number of reps with him as he works his way back from an offseason knee procedure. They have instead worked primarily with the likes of young backups Cole Ballard and Isaiah Marshall.

“It’s been going good, man, just building that connection,” Henderson said. “You never know when they’re going to be needed, so you need to be ready at all times.”

Daniels was back participating at least in part in the portion of practice available to media on Tuesday, though, as Henderson himself noted.

“He just started back practicing now,” he said, “so we’re going to start getting rolling.”