THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
BASEBALL TEAM TO FACE COWBOYS
Kansas to play Oklahoma State in three-game series
BREAKING DOWN THE 2008 NFL DRAFT
Prospects include six Kansas football players
PAGE 1B
FRIDAY, APRIL 25, 2008
WWW.KANSAN.COM
PAGE3B
VOLUME 118ISSUE 139
"Once June knew he wasn't going to play pro, he just gave up." Marv Whiting, June Henley's assistant coach in high school
NOWHERE TO RUN
Former KU running back couldn't adjust to life without football
June Henley dodges past Iowa State defenders in a 1993 Kansas game. In Henley's first season, he rushed for 143 yards against Nebraska, 237 yards against Iowa State and made a 100-yard kickoff return against Colorado. Two days before Henley was supposed to break the freshman rushing record, he was caught stealing with a couple of teammates.
BY MARK DENT
mdent@kansan.com
HILLICOTHE, Ohio—The lights go out at 11 p.m., no exceptions, not even for the resident of Unit 7A, cell number 264. Maybe he couldve not
Maybe he could've gotten a break on team curfew in 1996.
break on team curtow in 1996, when he left Kansas as the No. 1 rushing leader in school history. Not anymore. June Henley has turned his lights off at 11 for the last 892 days, the time he's spent at a county jail and at Ross Correctional Institution, a prison located an hour south of Columbus, Ohio, where he's two and a half years into a four-year sentence.
They put him here, in the gray slate building behind the 20-foot-tall razor-wire covered fences, for aggravated robbery and burglary. He wears a light blue T-shirt and denim button-up over his softened but still imposing 5-foot-11 240-pound frame, counts a Bible, radio and tiny TV among his few possessions and spends a good portion of his days sitting in his closet-sized
"Being here," Henley said, "it's just horrible."
tart of his days setting i cell, staring at the white walls wondering how he got here and what life holds for him when he gets released.
Teammates, friends and family never knew this June Henley. They
how to mail June
Charles "June" Henley,
Inmate No. 527701
16149 State Rt. 104
Chillicothe, OH 45601
knew the record-breaking running back at Kansas, NFL Draft pick and senior class president in high school, someone who wanted and usually succeeded at getting everyone to like him. They didn't know the drug abuser, failure or felon.
Henley used to wear No. 20 and run from linebackers. He thought football would set him up for life. When the game got taken away from him, he ran away from jobs, friends and responsibilities. Now he's just inmate No. 527701, another face among the rapists, murderers and robbers at Ross Correctional Institution.
- * * * *
wall of Brookhaven High School next to the school's other top athletes. Parade All-American, it says. Division II Player of the Year, it says.
Somehow, June knew his picture would be here. He begged his mom to let him go to Brookhaven back when he was in eighth grade. Mary Henley let him go on one condition: He had to make the honor roll. If June didn't, he'd be back in the private Christian school system.
That was life in the Henley household. You had better work hard. Charles Henley Sr. got to the Columbus Dispatch building downtown by 5 every morning, where he worked as circulation manager. He worked until he finished, went home to be with the family and rested, then left for Columbus Auto Parts to make a few extra dollars at night.
version of Junior, wanted to throw a New Year's Eve party in high school, Mary turned him down. He had to go to church the next morning.
In exchange for the work ethic and devotion, June, his older sister, LeeTonya, and his adopted brother, Terry Glenn, got love. Mary and Charles Sr attended every one of June's Linden Eagles youth football games and many of his practices. His parents shielded him from bad influences. June had to be home at 10 p.m. on weekdays throughout high school or he'd better find somewhere else to sleep.
And he got football. Mary first wanted him to play baseball, but June stopped after one trip to the park when he got hit in the head with a ball. Charles Sr. took over from there. They'd practice in the backyard at nights, and Mary could tell her son really loved football. It was the way he ran.
"You could just see the desire in it," she said, "all his life"
On his way to a record-breaking 2,582 yards and 35 touchdowns his senior year of high school, June turned in several memorable performances. The sixth game of the season at Westerville North still stands out.
The rain came down in sheets that day. Horizontal rain, as Marv Whiting called it. "The field, the equipment," he said, "everything was drenched."
Whiting, an assistant coach and close friend of the Henley's, told the players to bring an extra pair of socks. June forgot. Caked with mud and wet grass, June ripped his wet socks off before the game. He picked up a piece of white chalk, drew a line at the top of his ankles and colored above his shoes.
"OK," Whiting remembered June saying. "Everyone happy?"
He ran for 240 yards that night, without socks.
That was June. Always playful. Friends and teachers remember him as much for that playful personality as they
That was June. Always playful.
do for his football, basketball and track.
His senior year, the student body elected him class president. Georgia Hauser, June's marketing teacher, and Whiting both said June took the job seriously even though it was a popularity contest. June might have won because he was popular, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to work hard. He gave the school's morning announcements over the intercom and organized a senior night
SEE HENLEY ON PAGE 8A
Adopting Terry Glenn
Glenn, a Pro-Bowler for the Dallas
Glenn, a Pro-Bowler for the Dallas Cowboys, had no where to go at age 13. His mother had recently been murdered, and he wasn't getting along with his aunt. Glenn met June Henley through one of his cousins,
and they often played basketball and football together. One Friday night, June asked if Glenn could spend the night. The night became the weekend, and the weekend became the rest of his life. Charles Henley Sr
"He needed someone at the time." Mary said, "and we just happened to be there for him."
See June run
and Mary Henley officially adopted Glenn later on.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
FULL AP STORY PAGE 9A
Visit Kansan.com to find a link or go to YouTube.com and type in "June Henley Kansas."
Leaders discuss advances to Mideast peace progress
June Henley had his fair share of highlights as he rushed for 3,841 yards in his KU career. One of his runs is captured on YouTube.
weather
index
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Opinion...7A
Sports...1B
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© 2008 The University Dally Kansan
ROTC
Cadets come to Lawrence for competition
One of the region's largest Army ROTC competitions will take place in Lawrence on Saturday.
The Ranger Buddy Competition will feature about 100 teams vying for a first-place finish in a series of long-distance runs and obstacle courses.
4
FULL STORY ON PAGE 10A
FULL STORY ON PAGE 3A
Students around campus will be silent today to raise awareness for children being bullied around the country because of their sexual orientation. KU Queers and Allies is sponsoring Day of Silence and students will not speak except for work or for class.
》 QUEERS AND ALLIES
CAMPUS
Dining services conducts food waste experiment
V
KU Dining Services and the KU Center for Sustainability conducted an Earth Day experiment on students Tuesday night that tested a concept that could significantly reduce cafeteria food waste on campus. But Nona Golledge, director of KU Dining Services said some variables may have interfered with the results.