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Smithfield • Sky View guard Jake Hendricks and his posse of friends gathered atop the mountain encrusted with the school's hillside letters following the annual Blue and White scrimmage in the summer of 2014 to unload rounds of golf balls.
Distracted from conversation with girls, Hendricks unwittingly stepped into the path of one of his friends' iron-club backstroke. The impact struck the then-junior firmly above his eyebrow. Dazed but fully cognizant, Hendricks reached for his skull as the summer sunlight illuminated the blood cloaking his hands.
"I said, 'Guys, we got to go to the hospital right now,' " Hendricks recalls.
The hiking expedition of that afternoon soon thrust Hendricks into one of the most frightening experiences of his life: Being transported by medical helicopter for an emergency visit to Primary Children's Hospital for what he described as a "brain bleed."
Hendricks fired his first shot with a basketball at age 3. The love between boy and sport was instantaneous. Before his freshman season, Hendricks was a two-sport athlete, playing football in addition to hoops, but with his high school career on the horizon, he elected to forgo participation on the gridiron in favor of focusing his attention solely on the hardcourt.
Already an accomplished perimeter shooter, Hendricks scored four points in two games of varsity action as a freshman during the 2012-13 season, but experienced the magical tournament run — memorably highlighted by current Utah State forward Jalen Moore's winning halfcourt heave in the semifinals — that ended with the state title returning to Smithfield for the first time since 1994.
Hendricks, who has collegiate offers from Air Force and Columbia, earned his starting position the following season, and, now entering his third full season as a starter, he's averaging 19.7 points per game. Albeit a high-volume shooter, who for his career is 38 percent from the floor, there are few programs that employ the resources to defend Hendricks once he find the zone. He dropped 41 points in the season opener against Highland (Idaho) this year, and as an encore, he tallied 51 collective points in victories against Orem and Davis.
"He's really athletic; really long," said Bobcats coach Kirk Hillyard. "He can get a shot whenever he wants because of his height and ability to elevate and shoot the jump shot."
The secret to Sky View's success this season is not a mystery. The Bobcats are dependent on Hendricks for his offensive output, discernible in consecutive losses against Bingham and American Fork in the Elite 8 Tournament, where he managed 13 points combined in both games on 4 of 22 attempts. An aspect of Hendricks' game that escaped him in both those setbacks was his accuracy from beyond the arc. He was second in the program only to Riley Panter in 3-pointers as a sophomore and junior.
Those two were connected in a far different scenario in 2014.
It took "five or 10 minutes" to return to their vehicle after Panter mistakenly clubbed Hendricks with either his "6- or 9-iron."
"He was hitting balls off [the hillside], and then I walked behind him," Hendricks said. "He just swung back and smacked my head."
Oblivious to the severity of the situation, Hendricks, using clothing as a makeshift tourniquet, stopped at his friend's father's house, knowing he was an anesthesiologist before traveling to Logan Region Hospital. The idea was he could stitch Hendricks' head at his house to avoid an emergency room bill.
"We stopped there," Hendricks explains, "and he said, 'No, you got to go to the hospital, and you should probably get an X-ray.' "
The X-ray revealed blood was leaking into Hendricks' brain, requiring an immediate departure for Primary Children's Hospital by medical helicopter.
"At first, I kind of thought he was kidding," said Hendricks, who was conscious throughout the ordeal. "But then it hit me, and I started to cry. I was so scared."
Panter heard the news in the waiting room. He quickly ventured to Salt Lake City with his father, arriving an hour after Hendricks' flight landed, while delivering the news to Hillyard via text message.
"I actually wasn't in town at the time, so I wasn't able to go to the hospital and check him out," Hillyard said. "… You never want someone you're close to like that to get injured. To hear about that — you just feel the angst from Riley. Jake has always been kind of quiet, he doesn't want to tell people when he's injured. You could tell he was pretty shaken up."
Hendricks was admitted for observation for two days before being released. The experience, which had the potential to be worse, was over. Hendricks was required to avoid physical exertion for three months afterward, meaning the gym junkie couldn't practice.
"It was probably a good thing for Jake because it forced him to take time away from basketball, which is something he doesn't do a lot of," Hillyard explained. "When he came back, he was hungry. He was ready to roll."
The dent from the impact is still visible on Hendricks' skull, but rather than undergo surgery to remove the evidence, Hendricks embraces it. It's said chicks dig scars, which is how the situation unfolded originally.
"You should have fun when you're younger so you can have cool stories to tell when you're older," Hendricks said.
While Hendricks says the fluke accident taught him to be "prepared because anything can go wrong," the lesson he conveys to anyone asking about his experience comes across more as conventional wisdom.
"Don't ever walk behind someone swinging a golf club," Hendricks says with a chuckle.
Twitter: @trevorphibbs —
About Jake Hendricks
School • Sky View
Class • Senior
Position • Guard
Height • 6-foot-6
Weight • 175 pounds
Noteworthy • Hendricks, who has offers from Air Force and Columbia, is a three-year starter in the Bobcats' backcourt, and after expanding his role in the offense this season, he's averaging 19.7 points per game. He scored 41 points in the opening game of the season against Highland (Idaho). In the summer of 2014, he was accidentally struck with a golf club in the head, requiring transport by medical helicopter. He has since recovered and is playing the best basketball of his career.