Destanni Mone Henderson (born February 2, 1999) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for the Indiana Fever of the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the Natio ...

(WNBA). Henderson played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

South Carolina Gamecocks The South Carolina Gamecocks represent the University of South Carolina in the NCAA Division I. The University of South Carolina uses "Gamecocks" as its official nickname and mascot. While the men's teams were traditionally known as the Fighti ...

, helping her team win the

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

and earning first-team All-

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

honors as a senior. At

Fort Myers Senior High School Fort Myers Senior High School (also known as "FMHS") is a public school in Fort Myers, Florida. It was opened October 19, 1911, making it one of the oldest schools in the state of Florida, and the oldest in Lee County. It is managed by the Lee ...

, she won three straight state titles, was a

McDonald's All-American McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hamburger s ...

selection and was rated as the number one point guard in her class by

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

. Henderson competes for the United States national team and won a gold medal at the 2021 FIBA AmeriCup.

Early life and high school career

Henderson was born on February 2, 1999, in Fort Myers, Florida, to Joyel James and Derrick Henderson. She first picked up a basketball at age four, but did not play seriously until the age of 11. Henderson grew up playing against boys and male relatives, and later through the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams (philanthropist), Georg ...

. She competed for Florida Future, a Fort Myers-based

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

program, from fifth grade. Henderson played for

in Fort Myers. In her freshman season, she was named to the Class 7A All-State Second Team. As a sophomore, Henderson averaged 15.3 points, 4.3 assists, 3.5

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

and three steals per game, and led her team to its first Class 6A state championship. She earned Class 6A All-State First Team honors and was selected as ''

The News-Press ''The News-Press'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper located in Fort Myers, Florida, serving primarily Lee County, as well as parts of Hendry, Collier, and Charlotte Counties. The paper publishes several editions of its "Local & State" (metro) s ...

'' All-Area Player of the Year. In her junior season, Henderson averaged 17.7 points, 4.3 assists and four rebounds per game, and helped Fort Myers win the Class 7A state title. She repeated as ''The News-Press'' All-Area Player of the Year and was named Class 7A Player of the Year. As a senior, Henderson won the Class 7A state tournament to capture a third consecutive state championship. She finished the season averaging 15.2 points, 6.1 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 3.3 steals per game. Henderson was selected to play in the

McDonald's All-American Game The McDonald's All-American Game is the all-star basketball game played each year for American and Canadian boys' and girls' high school basketball graduates. Consisting of the top players, each team plays a single exhibition game after the concl ...

and

Jordan Brand Classic The Jordan Brand Classic is a high school All-Star basketball game played annually in April. The game's rosters feature the best and most highly recruited high school boys in the senior class including alumns like Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Bl ...

. She was named Florida Miss Basketball, Florida

Gatorade Player of the Year The Gatorade Player of the Year awards are given annually to up and coming high school student-athletes in the United States. They are given for boys' baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine playe ...

and Class 7A Player of the Year. ''The News-Press'' recognized her as its Female Athlete of the Year and Basketball Player of the Year. In 2020, she was awarded ''The News-Press'' Player of the Decade by the newspaper's writers and editors.

Recruiting

Henderson was considered a five-star

recruit __NOTOC__ Recruit can refer to: Military * Military recruitment * Recruit training, in the military * '' Rekrut'' (English: Recruit), a military recruit or low rank in German-speaking countries * Seaman recruit Books *''Le Réquisitionnaire'' (E ...

and the number one point guard in the 2018 class by

. On January 15, 2017, she committed to playing college basketball for

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

over scholarship offers from Notre Dame,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The university ...

and

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

. Henderson had received an offer from South Carolina in eighth grade, and was drawn there by head coach Dawn Staley. She became the program's highest-ranked recruit since

A'ja Wilson A'ja Riyadh Wilson (born August 8, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Wilson played for the South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball, South Carolina ...

in 2014.

College career

On November 11, 2018, Henderson made her debut for South Carolina, scoring 13 points in a 94–38 win against Alabama State. On February 3, 2019, she recorded a season-high 19 points, four rebounds and two assists in an 87–79 win over

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

. As a freshman, Henderson averaged 5.5 points and 1.3 assists per game, and was selected to the

(SEC) All-Freshman Team. On March 7, 2020, she recorded a sophomore season-high 21 points in a 90–64 victory over Arkansas at the

SEC tournament The Southeastern Conference (SEC) sponsors nine men's sports and twelve women's sports. This is a list of conference champions for each sport. Also see the list of SEC national champions. Members The SEC was established on December 1932, when t ...

semifinals. Henderson helped her team win the SEC Tournament and earned all-tournament honors. She averaged 8.5 points and 2.8 assists per game as a sophomore. With the graduation of

Tyasha Harris Tyasha Pearl Desiree Harris (born May 1, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for the Connecticut Sun of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for the South Carolina Gamecocks. Harris was ...

, Henderson became a regular starter for South Carolina during her junior season. On November 29, she scored 23 points, all of which came in the second half, in a 79–72 victory over Gonzaga at the Crossover Classic. She was named

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

of the tournament. On January 18, 2021, Henderson registered the first

double-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

of her career, with 14 points and 10 assists in a 104–82 win against Arkansas. On March 7, she recorded 18 points and nine rebounds in a 67–62 victory over

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

at the

final, and was named to the all-tournament team. Henderson helped her team reach the Final Four of the 2021 NCAA Division I Tournament. As a junior, she averaged 12.2 points, 5.1 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game. On November 29, Henderson suffered a left leg injury against

North Carolina A&T North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (also known as North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina A&T, N.C. A&T, or simply A&T) is a public, historically black land-grant research university in Greensboro, North Caro ...

. After being sidelined for three weeks, she returned on December 21, and posted 17 points, seven assists and a career-high seven steals in a 65–61 win over second-ranked

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

. She led South Carolina back from an 18-point deficit, making it the largest comeback in program history. In her regular season finale on February 27, 2022, Henderson scored 23 points in a 71–57 win against Ole Miss. Henderson helped South Carolina win the

. In the title game, she recorded a career-high 26 points, four assists and three steals in a 64–49 win over

UConn The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Ha ...

. Henderson was the primary defender on

Paige Bueckers Paige Madison Bueckers ( ; born October 20, 2001) is an American college basketball player for the University of Connecticut (UConn) Huskies of the Big East Conference. At Hopkins High School in Minnetonka, Minnesota, Bueckers was ranked as th ...

, who was held to 14 points. She was named to the Final Four all-tournament team. As a senior, Henderson averaged 11.5 points, 3.9 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game. She made the First Team All-SEC and received Third Team All-American honors from the

United States Basketball Writers Association The United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) was founded in 1956 by National Collegiate Athletic Association director Walter Byers to serve the interests of journalists who cover college basketball. Scholarships The USBWA annually awa ...

Professional career

Indiana Fever (2022–present)

On April 11, 2022, Henderson was drafted in the second round, 20th overall, by the Indiana Fever in the 2022 WNBA draft.

National team career

Henderson was named to the United States team for the 2016 FIBA Under-17 World Championship for Women in Spain. On June 27, 2016, she recorded 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in a 79–62 win against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

at the Round of 16. In seven games, Henderson averaged 7.1 points, five assists and 4.4 rebounds per game, helping her team win the bronze medal. She joined the senior national team at the 2021 FIBA AmeriCup in Puerto Rico. Henderson averaged 5.5 points and 3.7 assists per game, and won a gold medal.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, 31 , , 9 , , 15.7 , , .369 , , .372 , , .706 , , 1.6 , , 1.3 , , .5 , , .1 , , 1.3 , , 5.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

, 33 , , 0 , , 23.5 , , .416 , , .323 , , .651 , , 2.9 , , 2.8 , , 1.2 , , .1 , , 1.9 , , 8.5 , - , style="text-align:left;",

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, style="text-align:left;",

, 31 , , 31 , , 34 , , .430 , , .414 , , .764 , , 4.7 , , 5.1 , , 1.3 , , .2 , , 2.8 , , 12.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;",

, 34 , , 34 , , 31 , , .403 , , .399 , , .721 , , 3.1 , , 3.9 , , 1.4 , , .1 , , 2.1 , , 11.5 Source

WNBA

Regular season

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, align="left" ,

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, 36 , , 5 , , 16.4 , , .401 , , .366 , , .719 , , 1.6 , , 2.5 , , 0.8 , , 0.1 , , 1.7 , , 5.3 , - , align="left" , Career , align="left" , 1 year, 1 team , 36 , , 5 , , 16.4 , , .401 , , .366 , , .719 , , 1.6 , , 2.5 , , 0.8 , , 0.1 , , 1.7 , , 5.3

Personal life

Henderson's nickname, "Boss," was passed down from her mother, whose grandfather called her " Boss Hog," in reference to the character from ''

The Dukes of Hazzard ''The Dukes of Hazzard'' is an American action comedy TV series that was aired on CBS from January 26, 1979 to February 8, 1985. The show aired for 147 episodes spanning seven seasons. It was consistently among the top-rated television serie ...

''. Her coach with the Florida Future, Jamie Outten, nicknamed her "Lil Boss" when she joined the team as a fifth-grader, and the nickname was changed to "Boss" as she grew older. Henderson

majored An academic major is the academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits. A student who successfully completes all courses required for the major qualifies for an undergraduate degree. The word ''major'' (also called ''conce ...

criminology Criminology (from Latin , "accusation", and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'' meaning: "word, reason") is the study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in both the behavioural and so ...

and

criminal justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the Rehabilitation (penology), rehabilitation of o ...

at the University of South Carolina. She made the SEC Academic Honor Roll for five semesters during her first three years at South Carolina.

References

External links

South Carolina Gamecocks bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Destanni 1999 births Living people American women's basketball players Basketball players from Florida Point guards South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball players LGBT basketball players LGBT people from Florida Lesbian sportswomen McDonald's High School All-Americans Sportspeople from Fort Myers, Florida Indiana Fever draft picks Indiana Fever players