Destanni Henderson selected by Indiana Fever in 2022 WNBA Draft
Destanni Henderson has officially gone pro.
The two-year starting point guard for South Carolina women’s basketball was selected by the Indiana Fever with the 20th overall pick in the second round of the 2022 WNBA Draft on Monday in New York City.
“I wasn’t really expecting anything,” Henderson said. “I was just staying positive about the outcome, and whichever order that it went, it really didn’t matter. I’m just very blessed and honored to be here and to be in New York and living the dream, living the moment that I’ve always dreamed of. Just hearing my name was my outcome, and I got that tonight.”
Henderson was the last of the 12 players invited to the WNBA Draft in New York to be selected.
Henderson spent four seasons under Dawn Staley in Columbia, where she broke out in her final two years with the program, averaging 11.5 points, 3.9 assists and 3.1 rebounds as a senior.
The 5-foot-7 native of Fort Myers, Florida shot 40.3% from the field and 39.9% from 3-point range in her senior season with South Carolina.
She’ll join Gamecock greats Tiffany Mitchell and Alaina Coates on the Indiana roster.
Henderson played a key role in the Gamecocks’ 2022 national championship run, scoring in double figures 19 times this season. She put up a career-high 26 points on 9 of 20 shooting in South Carolina’s national title win over UConn, going 3 of 6 from behind the arc.
Henderson also guarded Huskies’ star Paige Bueckers for much of the NCAA tournament championship game, neutralizing the sharp shooter to just 14 points on 6 of 13 shooting in Minneapolis.
“What I can bring to the Fever is my speed, being a play maker, whether that’s facilitator, scoring the basket, defending,” Henderson said. “I just feel like I can bring so much to the team and bring my style, bring my flair on the court, off the court. I feel like I’m going to fit really well within the program.”
Henderson finished her USC career with 157 made 3-pointers, eighth-most in program history, and a 37.9% 3-point field goal percentage good for fourth in school history. Henderson’s 1,220 career points put her at 24th in program history.
South Carolina has produced 12 WNBA Draft picks, with eight under Staley.
Mikiah Herbert Harrigan and Tyasha Harris were the Gamecocks most recently taken in the draft, going No. 6 to the Minnesota Lynx and No. 7 to the Dallas Wings in 2020, respectively. A’ja Wilson, the 2020 WNBA MVP, was selected with the top overall pick of the 2018 draft by the Las Vegas Aces.
Henderson had been projected by many mock drafts to go in the first round, but instead the Fever snagged her with their fifth pick of the draft. The Fever had four first-round picks, including No. 2, No. 4, No. 6 and No. 10 overall.
She said she spoke with Indiana a few days prior to leaving for the draft.
“It’s just a program that sees something in me, and I feel like they’re going to be working hard to try to build a team,” Henderson said. “They fill me up with confidence. It was just a great conversation, them getting to know me, me getting to know a little bit about them and what they’re trying to do at the Indiana Fever. I’m very welcomed to be a part of that program.”
Current and former WNBA players, as well as current and former Gamecocks, took to Twitter to discuss Henderson’s selection Monday night.
“You took Henny at #20 and not #5???” former Gamecocks player Markeshia Grant wrote on Twitter.
“Oooooooo shooot!!!! We got HENNY!!!! Welcome to the @IndianaFever @dh3nny #Fever4Life,” former Fever star Tamika Catchings said in a tweet.
Henderson said her draft night was a dream come true, regardless of when she was picked.
“The WNBA has always been a dream of mine,” Henderson said. “But as I got older, it started to feel more realistic, and I felt like I was getting closer and closer. I’m just finally here in the moment. Just thinking back, it just feels like I finally did it. All those times I spent in the gym and trying to get better, it really paid off.”
This story was originally published April 11, 2022 at 8:33 PM.
