AJ Henning to Northwestern
The guy who owns Campagnola and part owner of Union/Space is also a Wolverine.
Did not know that! Makes me like those places even more.
I'm about 4 blocks north into Wilmette, so...
I lived in Evanston for 5 years and have no idea what any of those places are. Guess it has been 20 years though…
Bluestone rocks!
looks like he's gonna get lost in rogers park and have to ask someone for directions...good luck with that
unless he is from there...then he's ok. I wouldn't hang out in evanston too much with chicago right there.
Actually, I wouldn't hang around in Chicago too much with Evanston right there.
Chicago is incredible...the fact that it's become a political punching bag (like my birth city of Detroit was for most of my life) is a fucking joke. Is it perfect? No. But there is no such thing as a perfect city and Chicago is pretty damn close.
It was never crime that made me think about moving, it was just the fact that the winters are so damn long. It was playing with my head. But the summers were like paradise. Fall was also amazing.
I did end up moving from Roscoe Village not long ago, but absolutely LOVED IT. Fortunately/Unfortunately, I got a new job. But that was home.
The community was incredible, it was far enough away from the Wrigleyville bros while still being walking distance (Go Cubs!). It's basically west Lakeview, close to Bucktown/Wicker Park/Logan Square. Great food, great people, great places to hangout.
Couldn't afford Lincoln Park and the stuff closer to Downtown isn't my vibe (too expensive, too much traffic, too many damn people/tourists/etc. - I'll gladly make the 15 minute drive or hop on the red line).
Chicago, forever my home 🥰
Chicago is fantastic. I was just at a Cubs game the other night and drove down Southport to drop a friend off in Bucktown. What a great area, it's really thriving. The winters do suck so the goal is to spend as much time between January and April somewhere else. But the late spring/summer/fall are amazing. Can't wait to move back from Evanston.
I think Rogers Park's food scene is underrated. If AJ is lucky he'll stumble upon this: https://badousenegalesecuisine.com/
it is super nice and ritzy in evanston but as a southsider I could never adjust to the kenilworthyesque feel of the whole area. the bai alai temple always fascinated me and made me consider tolerance for all religions and sports at the same time.
In my day, Northwestern students never had much time to make it to Chicago. Evanston will have to do.
Evanston is nothing like Kenilworth. You can see nice houses along the lakefront but anywhere west of there is way different than what you find in Kenilworth. 31% of the students at Evanston Township High School are low income. It's really more Chicago than it is north shore.
i believe you...it was just my impression from driving around the school and the lakefront. I imagine it is a very good place to live, go to school, people watch, eat, what have you.
The year after I graduated from U of M I lived on Farwell St with a NW grad student and cross country geek who ran to his classes every day. My version of running was a slow 2 miles down random city blocks and it was bliss. much love to rogers parkers too.
The lakefront is where the dough is, and Northwestern has a gorgeous campus - they spend a ton of money on it, no doubt. Downtown Evanston is sort of slowly dying. I don't know why the students don't spend more time there. It really is kind of baffling. Not like Ann Arbor at all.
As another Evanston resident, I have also pondered why the downtown doesn't seem to thrive on student spending, like Ann Arbor. Part of it I think is that the school is about 25% the size of UM and costs a lot more, so maybe there's just less disposable income in the student body overall? I mean, it's maybe twice the size of the high school, right? But I'd say Evanston retail/restaurant scene is doing better than Michigan Ave one in Chicago right now. Covid and e-tailing have really done a number on large shopping areas.
And restaurants and movie theaters.
Biking down Sheridan Avenue at night to see the Bahai House of Worship glowing over the lake is still a surreally beautiful sight that I'll never forget.
Well-done, AJ, and great get for Northwestern. Expect he will feature on ST and offense.
Had the chance to speak with his very supportive family on the way into Kinnick Stadium for last years IOWA game. Hoping the entire family enjoys their time in Evanston.
Meh, he won't be missed, he could only torch OSU's run defense for a piddly 20% of Hassan Haskins's TD tally.
/s, in case it wasn't obvious
In this place?
Comments like that are not obviously sarcasm.
Is Henning a grad transfer? I'm happy for Henning either way, but for good players short on playing time who graduate, why not get a grad degree for free and a shot at a breakout season somewhere you'll be featured. Best case you realize all of your talents and play pro for a couple of years and worst case you get some free education.
Yes, he graduated.
Though not as important as his TD against OSU in 2021, my favorite AJ Henning moment was his kickoff return at Maryland. Beautifully executed backward pass by Michael Barrett sprung AJ down the sideline untouched.
I was one of the many Michigan fans there that day, and A.J. set a wonderful tone for the whole game.
Edit: I was thinking of the Giles Jackson game-opening return. A.J.'s return was a well-timed coup de grace two years later. All the Maryland games and all the Natty Boh tend to blur things a bit.
Man, what a loss of potential in Giles Jackson, for both Michigan fans and Giles Jackson, because he left.
Nice point, Colt. I remember relishing that play as it unfolded but thinking, "man, we should've saved that one for when were playing someone better and not in a blow-out."
I hope he has a lot of fun playing for the Wildcats.
Cool
They've been getting a good number of guys drafted recently. Mostly OL and DL, but it shows that NFL scouts are paying attention to the goings on in Evanston. Best of luck, AJ.
A Michigan Degree and a Northwestern Degree for free?!?!?! Whew that's one helluva career starter. Good luck to him both on and off the field. He probably doesn't need it but still.. WOW.
I guess the scholastic became more important than the athletic.
Lots of Iowa fans hoped he's choose Iowa.
Thank you. Saw some (obviously clickbait) headline about "AJ Henning transfers from Michigan to B1G team" and the article said something about a "school in Illinois" (where he is from), which was weirdly worded so I guessed it might be Northwestern rather than the school in Urbana-Champaign, but geez the title should have simply said that, and somehow the article never did name Northwestern. So I joined this thread to upvote the better worded, more informative posting. Which is a long-winded way of saying thank you.
Oh, and good luck to AJ Henning, two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree (2021, '22), so we can wish him well and bear him no ill will.
I hope you do great AJ. Best of luck.
Good luck and hopefully he kills it there. I was happy with how explosive he could be on special teams so hopefully he makes some big plays on offense for them.
Michigan Bachelors and a Northwestern Masters?
That kid has quite a future ahead of him.
Good for him I hope he does great.
Offensive Line Development has been outstanding.
WR Development has been a dumpster fire.
Henning - Johnson - Dixon - Wilson - Black - DPJ - Oliver Martin all failed to come close to matching the hype. Our best WR last year was a 7th round draft pick.
It’s time Harbaugh finds a top dog WR coach. Bellamy should of stayed at the high school level - he seems over his head IMO. Actually that’s the opinion the majority of my Michigan friends and family believe. We haven’t had a go to hot shot wide receiver with the game on the line since Harbaugh arrived.
Congrats AJ! Hope you really get to show your ability there, you earned it for sure! Thank you for everything you put in at Michigan for us fans.
northwestern has it's medical programs downtown on LSD. Maybe AJ is taking classes down there which could explain the exit sign.
as a geography and aerial photog fan I cannot resist posting. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/587d496c197aea7dfa7f81e3/1526052699781-B9HRU4V8T3SETUJHD04L/680-Mapv2.png
https://www.feinberg.northwestern.edu/admissions/images/aerial-hero.jpg
