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Mycheal Henry was an exception to the rule for Wayne Brumm.

The SYF Players coach rarely picks up players late in the AAU season, but when the talented 6-foot-5 shooting guard showed interest in joining for the second evaluation period in mid-July, Brumm relented.

It worked out quite well. Henry, an Illini verbal commit in the 2011 class, played in two tournaments with the U-17 SYF Players, including AAU Nationals. The team won three of four games in the first tournament with him and placed 12th out of 208 qualifying teams at nationals, Brumm said. But even more importantly, Henry fit in with the team. That's something Brumm highly valued.

"(In years past), we had two kids in the pros now who we turned down in the middle of a season. They were shoe-in pros when they came to us. They are big stars in the NBA right now, both of them," said Brumm, who declined to reveal names. "We turned them down just because we were concerned with chemistry and sharing the ball."

That was never a problem with Henry.

"Don't oversimplify this: He's a very cool kid, easy going. He smiles all the time," Brumm said. "He's a really good kid and could fit in with anybody. He's just a very cool kid."

Brumm called having Henry on the team a "good experience" and said he would add him mid-season "100 times out of 100" if he had the chance to do so again. He won't though, because a year from now, Henry will be practicing in Champaign, where he will find success and playing time right away, Brumm said.

"I don't think it's a matter of how soon he will play, it's a question of how many minutes he'll get," said Brumm, who is in his 13th year as coach of the SYF Players. "I don't think any Big Ten school is deep enough to keep a talent like Mycheal Henry off the floor."

Brumm was most impressed with Henry's ability around the basket and his feel for the game, an interesting compliment for a player who also lauded for his shooting. Brumm said Henry uses his strong body to stay balanced while finishing at the hoop and also added that Henry is a solid rebounder. He said Henry needs to work on his toughness on the defensive end and his ball-handling.

It wasn't an easy decision to add Henry, Brumm said, but it was one that was worth it.

"People at Illinois are going to absolutely love him," Brumm said.