Destanni Henderson

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

She previously played for the Indiana Fever, Los Angeles Sparks, and Phoenix Mercury.

Henderson played college basketball for the South Carolina Gamecocks, helping her team win the national championship and earning first-team All-Southeastern Conference honors as a senior.

At Fort Myers Senior High School, she won three straight state titles, was a McDonald's All-American selection and was rated as the number one point guard in her class by ESPN.

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

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.

She competed for Florida Future, a Fort Myers-based Amateur Athletic Union program, from fifth grade.

Henderson played for Fort Myers Senior High School 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 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 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 and Jordan Brand Classic.

She was named Florida Miss Basketball, Florida Gatorade Player of the Year 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.

She became the program's highest-ranked recruit since A'ja Wilson in 2014.

On January 15, 2017, she committed to playing college basketball for South Carolina over scholarship offers from Notre Dame, Tennessee, Ohio State, NC State and Florida State.

Henderson had received an offer from South Carolina in eighth grade, and was drawn there by head coach Dawn Staley.

Henderson was considered a five-star recruit and the number one point guard in the 2018 class by ESPN.

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.

As a freshman, Henderson averaged 5.5 points and 1.3 assists per game, and was selected to the Southeastern Conference (SEC) All-Freshman Team.

In 2020, she was awarded The News-Press Player of the Decade by the newspaper's writers and editors.

On March 7, 2020, she recorded a sophomore season-high 21 points in a 90–64 victory over Arkansas at the SEC tournament 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, 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 of the tournament.

On January 18, 2021, Henderson registered the first double-double 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 at the SEC tournament 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.

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.