Piper Hensley was a 1,000-point scorer in high school but never lost belief in her ability even when she barely played the first two years at Centre College. (Chris Zollner Photo)
Piper Hensley scored 1,120 points in high school in Crothersville, Ind. — fourth best in school history — and set school records for 3-point goals in a game, season and career. She also helped the team win a sectional championship for the first time in its 103-year history.
Yet during her first two seasons on the Centre College basketball team, she took ONE SHOT.
“I knew there were older, more experienced guards in front of me and I just had to keep working hard, keep my head up and bide my time until it was my time. I had never had to do that before. Coming into high school my freshman year, I started right off the bat.”
She admits there were some doubts in her mind as she sat and watched but her father, who was also her high school basketball coach. He told her to continue to be a “good teammate” and then take advantage when she got her chance.
Hensley got to play in 26 games as a junior and this season has started all 12 games. She averages 18.8 minutes per game and is shooting 16 of 38 from 3-point range, a team-high 42.9 percent mark.
Every shot the 5-4 guard has taken the last two years except one has been from 3-point range.
“I feel like I am most beneficial to the team out there. I feel it is better for me to let others score inside because they are good at it and I will do my thing which is shooting 3’s,” Hensley said. “I am still somehow able to get a lot of 3’s off. I would think teams would take it away but nothing has changed that much.”
Hensley normally shot every day in high school and on weekends would take 1,000 shots per day with her father watching. Then she would shoot free throws and sometimes he would make her shut her eyes as she shot them to learn to trust her touch (she went on the court and made four of five free throws with her eyes closed during our interview to show she could still do it).”
She doesn’t have time to shoot nearly that much at Centre with her academic load but knows “paying attention on the sideline” her first two years helped make her a starter this season.
“Last year was fun but being able to start this year is a lot more fun and knowing some games that even if my shot is off I can still rebound and get assists and contribute to the team is something I love doing,” she said.
Hensley started playing basketball at age 3 and when she was 4 or 5 her father had her wear a “little chicken blindfold” and dribble a basketball with each hand the length of their driveway.
“He would tell me if I was getting close to the edge. He thought that would help with my ball handling and it did,” the Centre College senior said.
She says the two would argue about games in high school but she always told her teammates at least “they didn’t have to go home with him because I got it all night, all the next day.” However, she knows his guidance put her in the best position to be a college starter.
She actually attended basketball camp at Centre for three years. She never stayed overnight like she was invited to until her senior year because she also ran high school cross county.
“My senior year I decided if this is the place I am going to go then I need to miss a meet and hang out with the team and make my final decision and that sealed the deal for me coming here,” she said.
She’s an anthropology major and wants to be an FBI agent working eventually at the Louisville branch office. She knows she likely would have to start with a “computer job” but then would have a chance to move up.
“I have always had a confidence about me that I can do what anyone else can do regardless of my size,” she said when asked about her small frame. “I have put a lot of research into it.”
She started watching the X-Files, a network TV science fiction series about FBI special agents investigating unexplained cases, with her father when she was in the seventh grade. She thought then it would be “cool” to be in the FBI.
“I did my research and know what I am getting myself into and I am really excited for it,” she said.
