Destanni Henderson declares for WNBA Draft, Victaria Saxton to return for 2022-23 season
COLUMBIA, S.C. — On Wednesday the defending national champions found out they were bringing back four out of the five starters from this year’s title team.
Starting point guard Destanni Henderson officially declared for the WNBA Draft, and starting forward Victaria Saxton announced she was returning for her fifth and final season.
Both players had the option to return for an additional year afforded to them due to COVID.
Henderson led the Gamecock offense all season long out of the point guard position, and finished her time at South Carolina with a career-high 26 points in the Gamecocks 64-49 win over UConn in the national championship game.
She finished her career with 157 made 3-point shots, good for eighth-best in program history. She also sits fourth in school history shooting 37.9% from 3-point range, and ninth in total assists (423).
12 Gamecocks in total have been selected in the WNBA Draft, eight of those coming in the Dawn Staley era. 10 of those selections came in the first round.
On the flip side of the offseason decision-making process, starting forward Victaria Saxton’s return will give South Carolina four of its five starters from this year’s national championship roster.
She was a dominant force on the defensive end, and will help South Carolina maintain its position as one of the longest and toughest defensive teams in the country. Saxton averaged 5.8 rebounds per game and tallied 48 blocks this season, both of which were second-most on the team.
