WNBA DRAFT

April 11, 2022

Destanni Henderson

Indiana Fever

Q. What has that last two weeks been like for you, winning a National Championship and everything that went on at South Carolina and now to be drafted here in New York?

DESTANNI HENDERSON: It's been crazy but good crazy. Just full of excitement, positive energy for my teammates back in South Carolina and the fans. To make it here today is a blessing and an honor. I'm just very thankful and proud of myself.

Q. Curious about your thoughts on being drafted by Indiana. What were you expecting heading in?

DESTANNI HENDERSON: I wasn't really expecting anything. 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.

Q. Could you give us what Coach Staley advised you about the transition to the WNBA?

DESTANNI HENDERSON: I just feel like what she's been preaching to the University of South Carolina basketball team all year long is keeping the main thing the main thing, not letting anything deter your future or what set goals you have for yourself. To stay positive and to fight for what you want in life.

Q. How does it feel to be the best dressed person and have the best dressed coach here tonight?

DESTANNI HENDERSON: It feels great. I got so many compliments tonight. It's just a wonderful feeling. It's just something I take pride in when it comes to fashion, and it's something that makes me feel good. For others to recognize it and compliment me the way they have tonight, it feels great.

Q. How did it feel to be honored yesterday at the Stanton Street courts with young girls surrounding you and shaking their hands?

DESTANNI HENDERSON: Oh, man, that was a moment to remember. Just makes me feel good about myself and that there are younger players that look up to me. They see what I do. They see what I bring to the game of basketball, who I am off the court. To be recognized and loved like that from people I've never met before, it's a wonderful feeling.

Q. I was going to ask you about your outfit and the inspiration behind it and also curious now the pregame (indiscernible), anything you're planning?

DESTANNI HENDERSON: Not really planning too much. Just stay myself. I've really had some experience at the University of South Carolina back home. We dressed before the games, before the home games sometimes, so just a moment for me to feel like I'm at the next level, and I'm just going to bring that in the WNBA.

Q. Just wondering, you've been no stranger to adversity over your whole career. What will your intensity level be like going into this training camp?

DESTANNI HENDERSON: Just to be a sponge and learn from all the players that are already there, from the coaches, and be coachable. I feel like I'm a player that is still developing and has a lot of good things that come with my game. But I just want to learn as much as possible and grow as a player and bring all the tools that I have, whether it's my speed, offense, defense, just to make things happen on the court.

Q. When you started playing basketball here in your hometown of Fort Myers, did you ever envision in high school that this moment would be happening?

DESTANNI HENDERSON: Yes, the WNBA has always been a dream of mine, but as I got older it started to feel more real, 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 finally, like I finally did it. All those times I spent in the gym and trying to get better, it really paid off.

Q. You come from a hometown from great athletes like Deion Sanders, Sammy Watkins, but you are the first one from Fort Myers in all of southwest Florida to be drafted into the WNBA. To be the first from this area to be drafted into the WNBA, how does that feel?

DESTANNI HENDERSON: It feels great, honestly. I love where I come from, and to put on a statement like that, it just means a lot. It shows how hard I worked. I'm one of the first ones to do it, and I just want to pave the way for younger players, the youth, to let them know that it doesn't end with me; they can do it, too.

Q. Talk to me about your initial emotion when you finally heard your name called. You had to wait a little bit, but you finally heard your name called. What was that initial emotion like? Now you've got to hop on a plane for the parade on Wednesday. How excited are you to be able to celebrate the National Championship with the fans again?

DESTANNI HENDERSON: Well, just to hear my name is an honor and a blessing and it's just something that I've waited my entire life for as long as I can remember, me playing basketball, and the WNBA being an option for me.

I honestly just can't wait to get back home and celebrate with my teammates. They've been supporting me, texting me, blowing my phone up and just showing mad love. I respect them and I love them so much. It's going to be really fun.

Q. Now that you've been drafted, how do you feel, and what do you feel that you can bring to Indiana?

DESTANNI HENDERSON: I feel amazing. Just thankful to be here, thankful to be living the dream. Just something I've dreamt of since I was a kid.

What I can bring to the Fever is my speed, being a playmaker, whether that's facilitator, scoring the basket, defending. 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.

Q. Can you describe the moment you heard your name in this draft process and how you envisioned yourself, speaking about your role, speaking about the attitude and the effort you would like to bring in that team?

DESTANNI HENDERSON: Coming into the draft, I was just really positive, really confident, again, just honored to be here, to be sitting in this chair right now and be speaking with you. It's just an honor. I thank God. Without Him this wouldn't be possible, and all the people that have been supporting me, it wouldn't be possible.

I just feel like I'm going to bring so much to the team. Indiana Fever, I'm ready. I'm ready to get it rocking and rolling, to make history, create history and do something that has never been done before.

I just feel like I'm going to fit well with the team, and I'm very excited.

Q. I was just on the presser with the Indiana Fever and they were stunned that you were sitting there at 20. Elated, actually, that you were there at 20. It was like a Christmas gift. Did you talk to Indiana before the draft? Have you had any contact with them, and what have they told you if you did talk to them about what they were looking for in you as a player?

DESTANNI HENDERSON: Yes, I did speak with them a few days prior to me leaving for the draft. It's just a program that I see that sees something in me, and I feel like they're going to be working hard to try to build a team. 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.

Q. They had seven draft picks, so obviously they said there's going to be a lot of competition at camp with seven new players coming in on top of the roster they already had. Are you excited to get in there and start competing for a spot with such a deep roster they have at the moment?

DESTANNI HENDERSON: Of course. I feel like that's what I'm built to do, to show off my talent. Just keep going forward. Be myself and learn from the vets and everybody that is already there, as well as the coaches. Just be coachable, be positive, be confident. That's what I'm going to do.

Q. Obviously your time didn't overlap with Tiffany Mitchell and Alaina Coates, but heading to Indiana where you have two former Gamecocks on the roster, how does that feel? And what does it say about the program Dawn Staley has built to go to a place where you have some camaraderie, where you have alums of the university?

DESTANNI HENDERSON: It feels really amazing. For us to graduate from the same school and play under the same coach, it feels really great. I'm going to be able to learn from them and really build a connection with them. I feel like they have so much to tell me about, things that they experienced, and just to be a sponge and create opportunity for myself to learn as much as possible.

Q. You created a great duo with Aliyah Boston at South Carolina. How has this partnership and the whole program help you to evolve your game and raise the level of your game going to the WNBA?

DESTANNI HENDERSON: I feel like South Carolina has great basketball, especially on the women's side. Dawn Staley has done a great job of preparing her players and just making a team that wants to compete and wants to be the best. I feel like that is going to transition into the league for me. Just to go hard and be determined, be deliberate, stay focused and just surround myself with great people who have my best interest at heart.