Vanderbilt's Josh Henderson returning for sixth year

About a week after announcing All-SEC center Damian Jones will return next season, Vanderbilt confirmed his backup will also be back for another year.

Fifth-year senior Josh Henderson, a 6-foot-11 center, has been granted a sixth year with the Commodores by the NCAA due to medical hardship from injuries that severely limited two of his previous seasons.

Vanderbilt's athletic communications office confirmed the NCAA's ruling on Wednesday.

Henderson will return for the 2015-16 season for his final year of eligibility, meaning Vanderbilt will bring back eight of its top nine players from one of the nation's youngest rosters.

Henderson played in 24 games last season with two starts. He averaged 2.2 points, 1.2 rebounds and 7.3 minutes, mostly providing brief breaks for Jones, who will put off his NBA Draft availability for at least one more year.

In his career, Henderson has played 72 games. His most court time came in 2012-13, when he started in 21 games. But that was sandwiched between injuries during his redshirt freshman (foot) and junior (knee) seasons, which limited him to only 15 games played combined.

Vanderbilt will have several options in the post next season. Jones and Henderson can both play center. Versatile 7-footer Luke Kornet returns, and 6-6 Jeff Roberson could spend time at both small forward and power forward.

Plus, Vanderbilt's top 25 recruiting class features a pair of lauded big men in 6-11 Djery Baptiste and 6-9 Samir Sehic to add to a team that went 21-14 last season and advanced to the NIT quarterfinal.

Reach Adam Sparks at 615-259-8010 and on Twitter @AdamSparks.