During the week, Henson would get up at 5 a.m. to leave for school. Then she had volleyball practice. Then basketball practice. Jean would wait for her daughter to finish and they would drive home.
“We wouldn’t get home at night until about 10 p.m.,” Henson said. “Then I’d have to do homework, have to shower.”
As she told the story, Henson started to laugh. She remembered the time she wanted to stay and watch a Friday night football game. Jean was ready to drive home. One of her new teammates (Kelsey Plum) offered to give her a ride.
“Kelsey was like, ‘I’ll take her home,’ not realizing how far of a drive it was,” Henson said.
Henson tried to make sure Plum knew what she was signing up for.
“Are you sure?” she asked. Plum said it wasn’t a problem.
After about 20 minutes, she asked, “Almost there?”
“No. Not really,” Henson replied.”
After 45 minutes, Plum asked again.
“How about now?” Plum asked.
“No. Not really,” Henson said.
The daily drive was rough, but it was worth it.
“I don’t know how my mom and I did it, but we got through it and it worked out, because now I’m here,” Henson said. “My mom is my best friend, my dad, too. It sucked having my dad in a different state, missing my freshman year, and he wanted to be there just as much, so he would drive from Tucson to San Diego almost every weekend to watch me play.”