After pondering his college future all day Tuesday, Seantrel Henderson, an offensive lineman who is considered by most analysts to be the nation's top high school football recruit this year, lay in the bed of his hotel room in Midtown Manhattan, reflecting on his options. Dozing off after 9 p.m., he was Southern California dreaming after deciding he would play for the Trojans. 'I just felt the most comfortable there,' Henderson said. 'I felt like it was the greatest spot for me with L.A. and everything.' On Wednesday, national signing day, at a television studio in Chelsea Piers, Henderson, a 6-foot-8, 340-pound left tackle from Cretin-Derham Hall in St. Paul, announced his decision on the CBS College Sports Network by wearing a white USC jersey and a cardinal Trojans cap. For an offensive lineman to be considered the top recruit is a rare feat. Henderson and his family provided an inside look at his final week of recruitment. It included updates on Florida coach Urban Meyer's health, Southern California's precarious situation with the NCAA and a flurry of text messages from two Heisman Trophy-caliber players. And it may not be over: According to his father, Sean, Henderson is not signing his letter of intent until USC appears before an NCAA infractions committee later this month. Though any possible sanctions may not come at that time, Sean Henderson said the family would get a sense of where the investigation was heading. Henderson put on a USC cap to announce his decision. He had essentially narrowed his choices to the Trojans, Ohio State and Miami, in that order, on Tuesday. Florida, Minnesota and Notre Dame were also in the running. Coaches were not allowed to send text messages to Henderson, but that did not stop his former high school teammate Michael Floyd, a Notre Dame wide receiver, or Terrelle Pryor, the Ohio State quarterback, from doing so before he announced his decision. Henderson said Floyd wrote to beware of 'fake coaches out there' that 'want you for the wrong reasons,' but he also encouraged him to 'go where you want to go.' He said Pryor wrote that he should 'come to Ohio State and help win games' and that he needed 'more linemen.' The decision of Henderson, who has yet to qualify academically, capped a frantic final recruiting week. It started last Wednesday with a visit by Southern Cal coaches: Lane Kiffin, the head coach; his father, Monte, the defensive coordinator; Ed Orgeron, the assistant head coach; and James Cregg, the offensive line coach. Sean Henderson recalled telling his son in his freshman year, 'If you really, really kill it, who knows, you might get a call from USC someday.' In May, that dream came to be with a call from Pete Carroll, then the Trojans' coach. During his son's recruitment, Sean Henderson said, recruiters from other colleges mentioned that the Trojans might face penalties from an NCAA investigation of their athletic program. But while visiting the Hendersons last week in Minneapolis, Lane Kiffin told them not to be worried, Sean Henderson said. 'As far as he's been informed -- he was very, very choosy with his words -- there shouldn't be anything going wrong because there was no knowledge of anything going on by the staff,' Sean Henderson said. The Hendersons asked Kiffin to be clear about what impact the NCAA might have on the Trojans' football program, Sean Henderson said. Just before Seantrel chose USC on Wednesday, Kiffin reiterated not to listen to others who said the Trojans might face sanctions. The day after USC's visit, Miami coach Randy Shannon made his home visit, but it was delayed by an hour and a half while Seantrel was having his hair done. After saying that he thought he was bound for USC just after midnight Friday, Henderson and his father left freezing temperatures in Minneapolis in a limousine sent by Miami to head to the airport for their official visit to the university. The trip was Henderson's fifth and final official NCAA visit, and came on the weekend of the Pro Bowl in Miami Gardens, Fla. That night, Seantrel Henderson was taken to a Miami club, where he met the former Miami stars Willis McGahee and Bryant McKinnie. The next day, McKinnie was kicked off the National Football Conference Pro Bowl team after two unexcused absences from practice. On Saturday he went to a South Beach nightclub, where he met Baltimore Ravens free safety Ed Reed, another former Miami player. Sean Henderson said his son told him, 'Wow, Dad, this trip right here is making my decision even harder.' Besides the Hurricanes' storied history, father and son liked that the university was private and that the team was 9-4 last season and seemed to have a bright future. They also liked the warm weather, but had concerns about Miami's fast pace. After returning to Minneapolis on Sunday, Henderson and his family took one last unofficial visit to Minnesota, which is about a 10-minute drive from his father's house. Inside the club area at TCF Bank Stadium, the Gophers had an aisle set up for him to walk down with 10 poster boards on each side showing different displays. One of them showed a group of children wearing No. 77 Minnesota jerseys, Henderson's high school number, and holding up a sign that read, 'We love you, Seantrel.' Upon Henderson's arrival, the coaches and their wives applauded. The Gophers had 77 index cards on tables and each one had a different reason he should attend Minnesota. But the biggest attention grabber was a life-size cardboard cutout of Henderson in a Gophers uniform. 'Sean, you know we've got the most love for you here,' the elder Henderson recalled coach Tim Brewster telling him. 'We're going to take good care of Seantrel. We've been recruiting him since ninth grade. Who's going to do him better than we will?' But Henderson said he would have been passing up 'greater opportunities on a bigger stage' by attending Minnesota. Seantrel and his father said they liked the stability of the Ohio State coaching staff but not the university's large class sizes. During coach Jim Tressel's home visit last month, he told Seantrel in great detail what his first year would be like for the Buckeyes. Henderson's father described the talk as 'pretty long-winded.' Afterward, Tressel mentioned to the Hendersons that he was always told he talked a lot. 'He's so informative and so to the point and so much about business, that it was a little boring,' Sean Henderson said. Excluding Florida and Notre Dame, all of Henderson's finalists sent him letters of intent. Dan McCarney, the Gators' assistant head coach, told Henderson's father Monday that they were sending the documents only to players who were certain that they would sign with them. The Hendersons never really clicked with Florida. Last month Meyer was scheduled to make an in-home visit to the Hendersons, but only McCarney made the trip. In an e-mail message to Sean Henderson on Jan. 26, Meyer wrote that his doctor and Athletic Director Jeremy Foley would not let him go. He wrote that the Gators' recruiting class was No. 1 this year and that Seantrel was 'the last missing piece.' Meyer wrote that this year's class reminded him of Florida's 2006 recruiting class, which featured quarterback Tim Tebow, a Heisman Trophy winner; wide receiver Percy Harvin, an NFL first-round pick; and Brandon Spikes, an all-American linebacker. That class helped the Gators win two national championships. When reports first surfaced in January that Carroll was leaving USC to coach the Seattle Seahawks, Sean Henderson was stuck in an elevator for nearly two hours. He learned of the news in a text message from his son. The Hendersons ended up not talking to Carroll again. 'We deserved a direct phone call, honestly,' Sean Henderson said. Carroll's departure briefly tainted USC for the Hendersons, but Kiffin repaired the damage. On Monday, less than three weeks after Carroll left, Kiffin and Sean Henderson were talking like old friends about whether Monte Kiffin had called the elder Henderson's father. The elder Kiffin, who has two separate coaching stints with the Minnesota Vikings, and Seantrel's grandfather will both turn 70 next month, three days apart. Sean Henderson and Lane Kiffin graduated four years apart from Minneapolis area high schools. Henderson also thought it was interesting that USC would appear before the NCAA's committee on infractions from Feb. 19-21 because Seantrel's two sisters have birthdays on Feb. 20 and Feb. 21. 'It's just a lot,' he said. 'It kind of seems like fate to a certain extent.' But without Henderson's signature on a letter of intent, fate could still change. 