Cedric Henderson, son of NBA player, finding fit at Campbell

During his time at the University of Richmond, Kevin McGeehan would often joke with Chris Mooney about teaching the spread motion offense, comparing it to learning Chinese.

“Then you get the right kind of guys and you’re like, ‘Oh, they already speak Chinese,’ ” said McGeehan, who is in his seventh season as the head coach at Campbell.

“It just makes sense to them. The game makes sense.”

Sophomore Cedric Henderson Jr. is fluent in the language of Campbell’s offense, which relies on spacing, screening, movement and other principles of the famous Princeton system — even though it’s not exactly the Princeton system.

Henderson, whose father by the same name played basketball at Memphis in the early 90s before five seasons in the NBA with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors, has made a smooth transition to the Division I level.

“He’s obviously talented, but he just sees it and I think that makes things natural for him,” McGeehan said of the younger Henderson, who leads the team at 11.9 points per game and is the lone player with more than 100 points through 11 games.

“He’s been terrific.”

The 6-foot-6 sophomore got his start under his father at Southwest Tennessee Community College in Memphis, where he was named Freshman of the Year in the Tennessee Community College Athletic Association.

“My dad always thought I was a D-I player,” said Henderson, who averaged 17.9 points in his lone season with the Saluqis.

“A lot of people didn’t believe that and I showed it that year in JUCO. Coach McGeehan gave me a chance and I’m here to show that I can play at this level.”

So far, so good for Henderson, who scored 15 points in his debut at Coastal Carolina and has reached double figures in five of the last six games, including a career-high 18 points at East Carolina earlier this month.

“They’re all just comfortable with me,” he said of McGeehan and the coaching staff.

“They allow me to play the way I play. They don’t force me to do anything extra that I’m not willing to do myself. The offense runs well for me. I’m not a one-on-one type player like that. I play well within an offense — I can catch and shoot — so it works out really well for me.”

Henderson said his father helped “a little bit” with the transition to the Division I level and the two talk “every day, almost” after games and practices.

“Honestly, it was fun,” he said of playing for his father.

“Me and him laugh, we’re really close. He’s always there, he talks to me about the game and tells me what he thinks I can do better. I come in and try to work on it myself in my free time.”

That work has helped the Camels win eight of their first 11 games for the program’s best start since the 2011-12 season.

And Cedric’s comfort level with McGeehan’s language has certainly helped.

“He’s had a pretty good start here,” McGeehan said. “I hope we can keep it going. “

Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached at rbaxley@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3519.