Nekeshia Shiondrail Henderson (born February 28, 1973) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

who played for the

Houston Comets The Houston Comets were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Houston. Formed in 1997, the team was one of the original eight WNBA teams and won the first four championships of the league's existence. They are one of two ...

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). She 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 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. She also played for the

San Jose Lasers The San Jose Lasers were a women's professional basketball team in San Jose, California. It was a member of the American Basketball League. Their home games were primarily held at the San Jose State Event Center with an occasional game being p ...

and

Colorado Xplosion The Colorado Xplosion was the first women's professional basketball franchise in Colorado, an American Basketball League (ABL) team based in Denver. Playing from 1996 through 1998, the team produced many memorable moments for Colorado sports fan ...

of the American Basketball League (ABL).

Early years and college career

Henderson attended

South Oak Cliff High School South Oak Cliff High School (colloquially referred to as SOC, pronounced "sock") is a public secondary school located in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, Texas, United States. South Oak Cliff High School enrolls students in grades 9- 12 and is a ...

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

. Henderson played for the

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and a ...

of the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

from 1991 to 1995, playing in 96 games and starting 64. She recorded 12.0 points, 3.9 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.9 steals per game during her college career. She earned First Team All-

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...

honors and was named the SWC Freshman of the Year in 1992. Henderson garnered Second Team All-SWC recognition in 1995. She was named the Team MVP for the 1994–95 season. She graduated with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in applied learning & development.

Professional career

San Jose Lasers and Colorado Xplosion

Henderson began her professional career playing for the San Jose Lasers and Colorado Xplosion. She signed a replacement contract with the Colorado Xplosion in December 1996.

Houston Comets

Henderson spent the 1997 season on the Houston Comets' developmental squad as a

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guard's m ...

. She was released shortly after the 1997 season ended. She tore an

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation ...

in her knee before the start of the 2000 season. Henderson signed with the Comets on May 1, 2000 and spent the entire season on the injured list. She played 23 games for the team during the 2001 season as a

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

, averaging 1.1 points, 0.9 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game. She was waived by the Comets on May 22, 2002.

BK Klosterneuburg and Elitzur Holon

Henderson played overseas after her initial release from the Houston Comets in 1997. She participated in the 1997–98

Ronchetti Cup The Ronchetti Cup (called till 1996 ''European Cup Liliana Ronchetti'') was an annual women’s basketball European club competition held by FIBA between the years 1972 and 2002. It was the second competition in European basketball, after the Euro ...

with

BK Klosterneuburg BK is the common abbreviation for the Burger King chain of fast food restaurants. BK or Bk may also refer to: Businesses and organizations * The Bank of New York Mellon, the New York Stock Exchange symbol for The Bank of New York Mellon Corporat ...

, an Austrian team. She also played in the 1998–99 Ronchetti Cup with Elitzur Holon, a team from the

Israeli Female Basketball Premier League The Israeli Female Basketball Premier League or Ligat ha'Al (Hebrew : ליגת העל בכדורסל נשים), is a women's professional basketball league in Israel. It is currently composed of eleven teams. The league was founded in 1957. Initi ...

National team career

Henderson competed with

USA Basketball USA Basketball (USAB) is a non-profit organization and the governing body for basketball in the United States. The organization represents the United States in FIBA and the men's and women's national basketball teams in the United States Olympi ...

as a member of the 1993 Jones Cup Team that won the Bronze in

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...

References

External links

Just Sports StatsWNBA profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Nekeshia 1973 births Living people African-American basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Austria American expatriate basketball people in Israel American women's basketball players Basketball players from Dallas Colorado Xplosion players Houston Comets players Point guards Texas Longhorns women's basketball players San Jose Lasers players Shooting guards Undrafted Women's National Basketball Association players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American women