CAROLINAS PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Leonard Henry, East Carolina

Henry bided his time for much of his career at East Carolina behind Jamie Wilson but emerged as a senior behind a strong offensive line to lead Conference USA in rushing at 130.2 yards per game. Henry ran for a C-USA season record of 1,432 yards, which moved him all the way up to second place on the ECU career list with 3,089 yards.

“It was difficult at times to play behind Jamie,” Henry said. “Especially when the team might not be moving the ball and I would be thinking that I might be able to go in and help the team.”

Henry broke the C-USA record for career touchdowns with 29. His 18 touchdowns, 16 rushing and two receiving, are an ECU season record. So is his season point total this year of 108.

The Clinton product didn’t speak to the media for much of his last two seasons on the college level but explained following his last college game at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

“I didn’t talk to the media because as hard as my offensive line worked for me, I wanted to run just as hard for them. I didn’t want any distractions.”

Henry knew his performance was a function of teamwork — the defense’s respect for the passing of David Garrard, a solid offensive line and quality downfield blocking by the receivers.

Henry proved well-spoken when he finally did interact with media. Asked how it felt to have built the program at ECU, Henry corrected the media member who posed the question.

“I didn’t build it,” Henry said. “I helped build it.”