Students Join 'Gerald Henderson—1 More Year' Facebook Group

In deciding whether to declare early for the NBA Draft, Gerald Henderson already has a chorus of advisers. Now, the junior has another choir urging him to stay at Duke for another year: his classmates.

On Wednesday afternoon, Vinay Krishnan, Trinity '10, started a Facebook group called "Gerald Henderson—1 More Year" to show support for Henderson in his decision-making process. Twenty-four hours later, the group has more than 300 members.

"Gerald obviously has a very difficult choice to make, and I'm sure there are a lot of different people telling him different things," said Krishnan, who added that he would love Henderson to stay. "I was just hoping that if I made the group and enough people joined it, he'd probably see it somehow, and he'd know that there are a lot of people at Duke who want to see him come back for another year."

Henderson said last week that he planned to "make a decision" about his NBA Draft status "when that comes up." Kyle Singler has already announced he will return to Duke for his junior year, and Henderson, who led Duke in scoring and has been named to multiple All-American teams, would likely catapult the Blue Devils to the top of the preseason ACC standings. If Duke landed highly-touted recruit John Wall and Henderson stayed, Duke would likely be the early favorite to win the national title.

Knowing all of that, Krishan made sure he struck just the right tone in the group's description: He wanted to be supportive more than persuasive. More than anything, he intended to show Henderson that Duke students would back whatever decision he makes, even if they do prefer one option over the other.

"Gerald, if you come back for your senior year, you can accomplish some great things and leave a lasting legacy at Duke," the description reads. "Whatever you decide, you have our support, but we would all love to cheer you on for one last year at Cameron. Join the group to show your support for G as he makes his important decision."

Krishnan is a member of the ubiqitious group "I Will Never Forget The Night Dave McClure Beat Clemson," but he said that this group was the first he has created. Not surprisingly, the five most related Facebook groups are: Duke 2012, K-Ville 2008-2009, The Cameron Crazies, LDOC 2009! and, of course, The "new ACES" sucks.