Bulls Prep running back Eric Henderson is trying to bring some gridiron lore to Chicago’s West Side, which has long been associated with basketball.
From Mark Aguirre and Isiah Thomas going first and second, respectively, in the 1981 NBA draft, to the renowned “Hoop Dreams” documentary and six NBA championships at the United Center, the West Side was the basketball capital of the world for a time.
Henderson, who attended Johnson Prep during his freshman year, said he and some of his neighborhood friends decided to team up at Bulls Prep to change that.
“We believed in each other as a brotherhood,” Henderson said. “We knew we could go places as a team, together as one. So we made a decision to move as one and come to Bulls.”
There hasn’t been a lot of team success for West Side football in recent years, at least maybe not since Austin beat Fenwick for the Prep Bowl title in 1958.
But Henderson, a junior who has rushed for about 900 yards for Bulls Prep (3-4) this season, has an ideal role model: Tennessee Titans wide receiver Carnell Tate, who was the No. 4 pick in the 2026 NFL draft. Before two years at Marist, two years at IMG Academy and three years at Ohio State, Tate grew up in the Garfield Park neighborhood.
Bulls Prep’s Eric Henderson plays against Whitney Young during a Public League Red Shield game at Lane Stadium in Chicago on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (Isaac Wasserman / for the Chicago Tribune)
In fact, Tate got his start playing youth football for Bulls Prep coach Michael Willis. Thanks to that relationship, Tate visited with Bulls players in July and talked about his journey from the West Side to the NFL.
“They asked a lot of great questions, and he was real with them,” Willis said. “He told them what they’ve got to do.”
Like Tate, Henderson began playing youth football in Columbus Park for the Chicago Chargers. So they have plenty in common.
Henderson, who has an offer from Western Kentucky and has gotten attention from Ivy League teams, was inspired by Tate.
“I took from that it’s not impossible for me to make it,” Henderson said. “It is going to be hard. I do have to deal with adversity, but I have to face it. I got motivation from (Tate), for real, because seeing him come from Chicago, where I stay at, it’s like, if he could do it, I know I can too.”
Henderson said both of his parents played basketball when they were younger. He watched NFL games on television when he was a kid and decided to try something different.
“I was living with my grandma and my cousins,” he said. “They would turn on football because they were addicted to it, and I kind of fell in love with it since then. My first favorite player was probably Todd Gurley.”
The 5-10, 165-pound Henderson, who rushed for 1,409 yards as a sophomore last season, isn’t yet a power runner like Gurley. But Henderson has great acceleration and is tough to bring down once he breaks into the open field.
Bulls Prep’s Eric Henderson celebrates after scoring a touchdown against Whitney Young during a Public League Red Shield game at Lane Stadium in Chicago on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (Isaac Wasserman / for the Chicago Tribune)
Last week, Henderson rushed for 234 yards and two touchdowns in a Public League Red Shield game against Whitney Young, and he had multiple other TD runs called back by penalty. That game also featured a soggy, gut-punch ending for the Bulls.
Playing in the rain at Lane Stadium, Bulls Prep held a 12-7 lead late in the fourth quarter, and the defense pushed Whitney Young backward on fourth-and-29. The Bulls needed two kneel-downs to end the game, but the wet ball slipped out of the quarterback’s hands, the Dolphins’ Cameron Brown picked it up and he ran 98 yards for the winning score.
Henderson gave chase, but he couldn’t make the tackle.
“I’m not gonna lie, I’m hurt (by the loss), but it’s only motivation for Kenwood (on Saturday),” Henderson said. “That’s our senior night. We have to play for our brothers, and that loss, even though we weren’t supposed to lose, it’s just fuel.”
As the lone charter school playing at the highest level of Public League football, Bulls Prep has some disadvantages, like no true practice field. An unlined park next to the school, which also includes a splash pad and a playground, has to suffice.
Bulls Prep’s Eric Henderson picks up yards during a Public League Red Shield game against Whitney Young at Lane Stadium in Chicago on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (Isaac Wasserman / for the Chicago Tribune)
Bulls Prep has endured three one-score losses this season, but Willis’ goal is to build the program into a West Side football power, which would be unprecedented in modern times.
“That’s most definitely what we are trying to be,” Henderson said. “We are trying to make a name for Bulls, get our name out there for the school and get our name out there for ourselves.”
The Chicago Bulls and the Chicago Blackhawks haven’t won anything in a while. Maybe a West Side football team can pick up the slack.