Mt. Spokane’s Niveya Henley is on the Move
Some of the biggest story lines in high school basketball transpire from transfers. How will moving talent shift the landscape? The attempt at creating super teams, players leaving schools for sports reasons and good ol’ families just moving, all create strong debates among followers of the state’s basketball scene. One of the biggest headliners last year was Mt. Spokane gaining two of the state’s better college prospects and this year’s news surrounds Mt. Spokane once again.
Mt. Spokane’s Niveya Henley will be attending prep school for the final two years of her high school career. The 5’11 shooting guard played in the 3A State Championship game during both her freshman and sophomore seasons. The Butler University commit is headed off to Montverde Academy (Florida) to attend school and play for first year Head Coach, Laura Harper. Coach Harper was a National Champion playing at the University of Maryland and won the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player in 2006. Harper is an ACC Legends Inductee and her jersey hangs in the rafters at the University of Maryland. She would go on to be selected 10th overall in the 2008 WNBA Draft and enjoy a solid professional playing career before joining the college coaching ranks. She most recently held the assistant position at the University of Florida before taking the Head job at Montverde. Niveya mentioned, “I am excited and really thankful for the opportunity to play for someone that has experienced playing at the highest level.” She added, “My goal is to go into my freshman year at Butler as prepared as possible both academically and athletically.”
Montverde Academy is an international, independent college preparatory school for grades Pre-K through post-graduate studies, with a boarding program serving grades 7-12. The goal of the girl’s basketball program is to “develop young women as student-athletes with a desire to compete for post-secondary opportunities at the highest levels of NCAA basketball.” Montverde’s recent alumni list includes Louisville’s 6’4 Ramani Parker and 6’2 BriShonne Tollie of Southern Methodist University on the girl’s side. Former members of the boy’s team includes NBA players like Ben Simmons, D’Angelo Russel, RJ Barrett, Joel Embiid, Dakari Johnson, Luc Mbah Moute and multiple other professional basketball players. The girl’s program finished the 2018 season ranked 15th in the country, according to USA Today.
Mt. Spokane will still be a strong presence in Washington’s 3A class with UW commit Jayda Noble leading the charge. The Wildcats finished as last year’s runner-up in the state tournament and return multiple key pieces from their post-season run.
Picture Credit: Sniper Kwam Media