5-star recruit Scoot Henderson reclassifies, signs with G League

Scoot Henderson, a high school junior and five-star recruit in the class of 2022, will reclassify in order to graduate this year and sign a professional contract with the G League Ignite, he told Jonathan Abrams of The New York Times.

Henderson's deal with the Ignite is worth $1 million, sources told The Athletic's Shams Charania.

"You know how every kid has their own path?" Henderson said, according to Abrams. "My main goal was just to get to the NBA and be there for a very long time.

"The fact that I have an opportunity to go there and I'm one step away from it, it's just huge. And I took that opportunity."

The 17-year-old point guard will be the first player to spend two seasons with the developmental team. To be eligible for the NBA draft, players who declare must be at least 19 and be one year removed from their high school graduation at minimum.

"He can take his time a little bit," G League president Shareef Abdur-Rahim said. "There's no expectation that he has to get everything accomplished in a short amount of time.

"That takes (away) a little bit of the whatever you want to call it - the anxiety, the pressure, the anticipation - of how he enters this. I think he can really enter it with a growth mindset."

Henderson was the No. 7 recruit in the ESPN 60 for 2022 before reclassifying.

The Ignite have now added multiple top recruits to next season's roster. Michael Foster and Jaden Hardy, both five-star prospects in this year's class, announced they would bypass college in order to play the 2021-22 season in the G League. Four-star Chinese forward Fanbo Zeng will also suit up for the Ignite next season after decommitting from Gonzaga.