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TreVeyon Henderson is a folk hero in his hometown.
“He’s a legend here,” said Ricky Irby, the head football coach for Henderson’s three seasons at Hopewell High (Va).
Henderson was the top running back in the country, even though he barely played the position in high school. He didn’t move into the backfield until his junior season when he compiled nearly 3,000 yards from scrimmage and scored 50 touchdowns. His older half-brother, Ronnie Walker Jr., who played at Indiana and Virginia, was the starting running back during Henderson’s freshman season. Robert Briggs, who went on to play college football himself, was featured in the Blue Devils’ backfield during their sophomore campaign. They were always a stellar running back-wide receiver tandem, Irby said.
Henderson, however, was very much on the radar.
“He had major Division I offers at four different positions,” Irby said of the New England Patriots second-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Notre Dame recruited Henderson as a cornerback, Clemson wanted him as a safety and Tennessee and Syracuse targeted the five-star prospect as a wide receiver. Those offers — and others — came in the spring of 2019. The second-ranked player in Virginia and 23rd national recruit received 39 offers in total, per 247 Sports.
“I had Lincoln Riley call me when (Henderson) first started getting recruited,” said Irby, referencing the then-Oklahoma coach. “He’s talking to Trey and said, ‘Man, you can come here and be a kicker if you want to be a kicker. You can play anywhere you want.'”
Those types of conversations ended a few months later.
“By the time he made the full-time transition to running back, everybody wanted him at running back,” Irby said.
Henderson’s performance as a wildcat quarterback the season prior put those wheels in motion. The wildcat package for Henderson initially was inserted on short notice after Hopewell’s quarterback suffered an injury two days before the Blue Devils traveled to face Dinwiddie High, which was riding a 35-game home win streak.
In a scoreless game late in the fourth quarter, Henderson took a direct snap and went 80 yards for a touchdown. It looked a lot like his track meets when he ran sprints and relays. He secured the 7-0 victory with a game-sealing interception.
“That was his coming-out party right there,” Irby said. “It was, ‘OK, this kid’s special.'”
Henderson’s junior season stats are so ridiculous that they look fake. He ran the ball 198 times for 2,424 yards (12.2 average) with 45 rushing touchdowns and added 18 receptions for 283 yards (15.7 average) and five receiving touchdowns.
The craziest part?
“Most of the games he didn’t even play the second half,” Irby said.
Henderson was named the 2019 Gatorade Virginia Player of the Year after he led Hopewell to a 15-0 record and second straight state championship. Unfortunately for Henderson and the Blue Devils, the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the 2020 campaign. Hopewell would’ve earned itself a three-peat that season, Irby believes.
Henderson, who was a straight-A student...
