Lucious Henderson, who was trumpeted as a top recruit, has decided to delay the start of his University of Hawai'i football career until January 2008.

Henderson said he will attend Navarro (junior) College in Texas this year.

"I still want to be a Warrior," Henderson said. "This is a little side trip."

Henderson, a 2006 graduate of McCollum High School in Austin, Texas, had considered petitioning for a special waiver that would allow him to join the Warriors this season. Henderson said he fell shy of the minimum SAT score needed to be eligible to play as an NCAA Division I-A freshman this year.

To determine eligibility, the NCAA uses a sliding scale balancing grade-point average in core classes with standardized test scores. Henderson was to ask the NCAA Clearinghouse to count an honors accounting class as a core subject. That would have boosted his GPA enough to make his SAT score acceptable.

In the end, Henderson decided the process would be too long and dicey. He said going to Navarro will allow him to play football for two seasons and accumulate transferrable credits.

As a partial qualifier, Henderson needs to earn an associate degree before he can play for an NCAA Division I-A program.

Henderson, who is 5-11 and 170 pounds, said he will earn six credits this summer. His plan is to earn the associate degree by December 2007. "After that I want to go to Hawai'i," he said.

Henderson was projected to compete at cornerback for the Warriors. At Navarro, he will compete at quarterback.

CORNERBACKS COMING

Myron Newberry, a cornerback from Trinity Valley College in Texas, said he has fulfilled the academic requirements to transfer to UH. Newberry, who signed with UH in February, will arrive in Honolulu this week.

Last year, College Football News ranked Newberry as the 24th-best cornerback in junior college. He has run 40 yards in 4.36 seconds.

Cornerback Keenan Jones of Compton (Calif.) College said he is on schedule to join the Warriors for the Aug. 3 start of training camp. Jones is completing work in a summer-school class. "Everything is going to be cool," Jones said.

VIDEO BEAT DOWN

Before a very select audience, the Warriors defeated Alabama. "We crushed 'em," UH quarterback Colt Brennan said of a video-game matchup. "But I'm sure they crushed us out there in Alabama."

The widely popular EA Sports NCAA Football '07 game was released Tuesday, and most Warriors bought copies. By Tuesday night, they played games against Alabama, the Warriors' real-life, season-opening opponent.

"They matched me up pretty good," Brennan said of his character in the game. "It looked like me. It had my black sleeves. The uniform looked good. The graphics looked good."

There were several mistakes. Starting slotbacks Davone Bess and Ryan Grice-Mullins were aligned as wideouts. And Brennan, who led the nation in passing yards and total offense last season, is ranked as the nation's No. 56 quarterback.

Grice-Mullins said: "Hey, it gives me something to do for the rest of July. And they've got my hair and my number right."

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.