For Henson, ‘It Was Tough, But It Was Worth It’

By Mason Kelley

By Washington Huskies

January 21^st, 2019

Mai-Loni Henson is at Washington because her parents made a choice. They decided to make their daughter’s dream a priority, doing whatever they could to help her play college basketball.

So, as the Huskies prepare to celebrate National Girls & Women in Sports Day, Henson took some time to share the story of her family’s sacrifice, the commitment to athletic achievement that provided the foundation for future opportunities.

For Henson, ‘It Was Tough, But It Was Worth It’

When Henson looks back on the decisions that led her to Washington, she is grateful for the journey and quick to thank her parents, Jean and Eric.

“My parents made a lot of sacrifices and I’m beyond grateful and blessed for that, because I honestly don’t know if I would have made it to this level if it wasn’t for that sacrifice,” she said.

“It was tough, but it was worth it.”

Basketball has been a part of Henson’s life since she was 5. She grew up playing with boys in Chicago and loved the mix of speed, skill and physicality the game required. But it wasn’t until she moved to Tucson that she found her way to the club circuit and the women’s game.

She started thinking about a future in basketball at an early age.

“I realized, I want to do this in the long run, so I played for a club team in Tucson, but we weren’t very good,” Henson said. “There weren’t many big players that came out of there. None of the college coaches really went there to recruit.”

So she started to seek out opportunities. Eric found a camp in San Diego, Calif. It was about a six-hour drive, so father and daughter decided “let’s check it out,” making the drive west the summer before Henson started eighth grade.

The camp just happened to be at La Jolla Country Day. The coach just happened to be Terri Bamford. And the program’s star player was someone Husky fans are sure to remember – Kelsey Plum.

“I fell in love with it,” Henson said. “I fell in love with the atmosphere and the chemistry the girls had. They were coming off state championships.”

Henson wanted to spend her high-school career playing at that school, for that coach and, for one season, with that superstar.

But, when it comes to relocating a family, there are decisions that must be made. It isn’t easy to just pack up and move. Jean and Eric, though, they made the tough choices. Jean attended high school in San Diego, so moving back to California was an enticing opportunity. It helped that she was able to find a job a few blocks away from the school Henson wanted to attend.

“It was the perfect opportunity for my mom to get back and for me to get out of Tucson to get looked at by college coaches,” Henson said.

Eric worked to sell the family’s house in Arizona and had to stay behind to continue working for much of Henson’s freshman year.

There was another hurdle for the family to navigate. Henson and her mother needed a place to live while Eric tied up loose ends in Arizona.

They ended up in Temecula.

“If you’re familiar with that, La Jolla and Temecula are about an hour and a half away – one way,” Henson said.

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.”

And, now that she is at Washington, Henson works every day to honor the sacrifice her parents made by maximizing every opportunity college life presents.

“It just makes me work 10 times harder,” Henson said. “I want to make my family proud, because we’ve been through a lot trying to get me to this level. Honestly, if it wasn’t for that, I wouldn’t be here. I owe it all to my parents.”

Moving to San Diego put Henson in a position to flourish as a basketball player. And then it was Plum who helped lead her high school teammate to Washington.

“I really owe a lot to her, too,” Henson said.

After what she described as a “roller-coaster ride” to get her to Washington, Henson believes her best basketball is still in front of her.

“I feel like I’m still peaking,” she said. “I feel like I’m still looking for my breakout. I found it a little bit sophomore year. Now junior year, it’s kind of been a little bumpy, but I feel like I still have that peak. I still haven’t shown my full potential. I still have a whole year left to show that.”

So Henson keeps working, striving to excel on court and in the classroom as a public health major – Henson wants to be a nurse.

She is focused, confident and working every day.

“My New Year’s resolution is focusing on myself,” she said. “I want to push to limits I haven’t reached in my college career. It’s just putting a lot of trust into my teammates and my coaches, just knowing there’s still something left in me I have to give. Right now, it’s just about finding it, bringing it out.”

As she works toward the future, Henson has a message for those who share her dream. To become a college athlete, sacrifice is necessary. For Henson, and her family, the payoff justified the struggle.

“It’s important for females and young women overall to understand it’s a process and everything isn’t always going to happen the way you plan it to happen,” Henson said. “There’s going to be some hardships. You may have to drive an hour and a half every day. You may have to wake up early. It’s not always going to be perfect. It’s important for them to know it takes sacrifice and, if you really want something, you’re going to have to sacrifice.”