Memphis’ Pierre Henderson-Niles Ready to Break Out His Skinny Jeans

How one can be fat playing high-major Division I basketball is beyond me. These guys run. And they run. Then, for fun, they run some more. It’s sort of like seeing a flabby world-class soccer player. It really does boggle the mind. It’s what has always made the case of Pierre Henderson-Niles so perplexing. He has always been, to say the least, a man who appears to have eaten his fair share of Memphis BBQ, not that anyone is blaming him. (I’ll take Corky’s over Rendezvous in a tight race, if you’re keeping score.)↵↵But credit Henderson-Niles, who seems to finally get it, and the pounds are disappearing faster than Memphis’ entire 2007-08 win total. Henderson-Niles has dropped 69 pounds -- going from 347 at one point to his new weight of 278 lbs. That’s 69 pounds lost to just 38 wins this offseason, so the Tigers have that going for them.↵

↵↵The story over on CBSSports.com goes into great detail about exactly how far Henderson-Niles has fallen from his lofty rating as a junior in high school. As Gary Parrish points out, if you don’t know Henderson-Niles’ as Memphis’ fat guy, you probably know him as the guy slapping a fan in this photo. No one is saying Henderson-Niles will be a player of the year candidate, or even a big contributor, but there’s a chance for him to contribute at Memphis as they transition to a new era under Josh Pastner. Who better to help lead them than a revitalized Henderson-Niles? (OK, maybe Xavier Henry would’ve been better.)↵

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