Top 2026 QB Keisean Henderson officially elects to stay home, signs with Houston

The second-ranked quarterback of the 2026 class will keep his talents close to home and signed with Houston on Wednesday. The longtime Cougar commit from Legacy SSS in Houston stood by his pledge made on May 27th of 2024.

“I felt the love from day one, and I feel like there is nowhere I would rather be,” Henderson said.

Henderson officially shut down his recruitment in early June and has remained loyal to the hometown Cougars.

The six-foot-three, 170-pound dual-threat signal caller is the 4th-ranked overall prospect and top quarterback in the 2026 cycle. Houston head coach Willie Fritz played a major role in Henderson’s recruitment.

“The way (Fritz) moves, the way he’s able to pick up stuff, be a leader. Everywhere he went, he’s always turned the program around. Just watching that from the past couple of years when he was at Tulane, he flipped that program,” Henderson previously told On3.

Signing Henderson is a significant win for the Cougars, who have only two other four-stars in their class in addition to the lone five-star in Henderson. According to the 2026 Industry Recruiting Rankings, Houston’s class ranks 34th in the country.

Florida State was the biggest threat to flip Henderson in his process, but he canceled an official visit to Tallahassee in the summer to solidify his stance with the Cougars. Henderson took his official visit to Houston in June, and he previously visited Oregon, Miami, and SMU.

“I love Houston as a city and as a home,” Henderson said. “A lot of the coaches there previously recruited me at different spots. Coach Fritz and Coach Slade Nagle were at Tulane together recruiting me. Coach Bell was at Baylor recruiting me. There are many other coaches on the coaching staff that were recruiting me at other places. I felt like Houston was the spot for me because everybody was making me feel like more than just any other player.”