BIO: Henshall was born and raised in the Perth suburb of Lynwood. He started to take basketball seriously at age 14 while attending Willetton Senior High School.

In 2021, Henshall led the Western Australia Under 18 Metro team to the gold medal at the national championships and was named the Western Australian Basketball League (WABL) Player of the Year while playing for the Cockburn Cougars.

Henshall represented WA and Australia on multiple occasions, being named WABL Male Player of the Year in 2021. He also debuted for the Cougars in the NBL1 West in 2021, averaging 6.17 points, 2.67 rebounds and 1.58 assists in 12 games. In 2022, Henshall moved to Canberra to attend the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS). He played for the BA Centre of Excellence in the NBL1 and averaged 8.0 points, 2.24 rebounds and 1.65 assists in 17 games in the Wildcard conference.

In 2023, Henshall led the Western Australia Under 20 team to the gold medal at the national championships and won the Bob Staunton Medal as the most outstanding player of the tournament. He also helped the NBA Global Academy win the NBA Academy Games in the United States, averaging a series-best 16.83 points per game. With the BA Centre of Excellence in the NBL1 East, he captained the team to a 20–2 record and averaged 18.05 points, 3.57 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.86 steals in 21 games.

Henshall received a scholarship to attend the Australian Institute of Sport (Canberra) in 2022. He spent one year there and played for the program’s state league team.

FAMILY: Henshall is the son of Mark and Joanne.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Ben Henshall made his NBL debut with the Perth Wildcats at 19 years of age. He went scoreless in his first NBL game.

After missing the NBL playoffs in 2023, Perth decided to re-tool the roster after losing NBA talent Luke Travers (to Melbourne) aquiring highly coveted free agent Keanu Pinder (via Cairns) and promising rookie Ben Henshall.

Upon signing Henshall to a two-year deal with the Perth Wildcats head coach John Rillie said Henshall’s youthfulness is a important quality going into next season.

“We were attracted to his feel for the game and the swagger he approaches the game with, he has great positional size which will help separate him,” Rillie said.

“Offensively he will be dynamic in the open floor, defensively he will become a very disruptive defender, he has natural instincts for the ball.”

Henshall’s signing would culminate with the Wildcats decision to buy out Todd Blanchfield (to Illawarra) and Mitchell Norton (to Brisbane) from their contracts, allowing Perth to bring in some younger talent to boost the squad after two consecutive years of missing the playoffs. 18 year old French tyro Alexandre Sarr was acquired via the Next Star Program, import players Jordan Usher and Kristian Doolittle were added to the roster and David Okwera (via Melbourne), a Perth junior talent, signed to a multi-year deal.

Perth’s season began with a season-opening victory over Tasmania, where Usher (35 points) set RAC Arena alight in his Wildcats debut, scoring the most points ever in a Wildcat debut.

The new look roster struggled after that, however, losing five of their next six games, which culminated in a loss to Brisbane where fans and media began calling for a new head coach.

Perenial league MVP Cotton was also a key factor in the slow start, with a new offence run through guards Tai and Corey Webster, seeing him left routinely in the corners. Cotton’s lack of contact with the ball even resulted in his wife taking to social media and calling for change, something which made national headlines.

The Bullets loss prompted new addition Pinder (13.6 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.7 steals) to publicly promote that the team would win their next five games. His deep fortune-telling proceeded in the Wildcats, turning their season around.

After a poor showing across the team’s first seven games, Bryce Cotton (22.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.5 steals) broke out of his early-season offensive slump, scoring 29 points in a dominant win over Adelaide on November 4 and from this game onwards, he was the point guard of old.

In December, he dropped a season-high 41 points in a December 1 triumph over Sydney and across an eight-game span from December 15 to January 21, Cotton averaged 30.4 points, including four 30-point games and, in the process, sealed the MVP conversation.

The Wildcats’ success also came from a number of key moves from Rillie, moving Usher (12.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.4 assists) into a sixth-man role and bringing Hyrum Harris (5.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.4 assists) into the starting line-up. Harris instantly brought a level of competitiveness and defensive intensity to the squad, diving on the hardwood for a loose ball or flying in from the baseline to pluck an offensive rebound.

Despite being only 18, Alexandre Sarr (9.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks) showed great poise for his age, showcasing his potential to be an NBA star. In only his third NBL game, Sarr came through in the final two minutes, nailing two triples against the Adelaide 36ers after Keanu Pinder fouled out and by the end of the season, he had skyrocketed by pre-draft scouting reports and was tipped to be the number two pick in the NBA draft.

Perth’s hot form saw them finish in second place (17-11) and return to the postseason. Cotton claimed his fourth MVP award at the end of the season, surpassing Brisbane Bullets legend Leroy Loggins (three), moving into outright second only behind leader Andrew Gaze (seven).

Perth’s run during the second half of the season ended abruptly however, with a semifinal series loss to eventual champions Tasmania. Henshall finished the season averaging 3.1 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 0.8 assists, appearing in 16 games.

Ben Henshall currently plays for the Perth Wildcats and has played 20 games in his NBL career. He has averaged 3.8 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 1 assists since entering the league in 2023.

CURRENT CONTRACT:

Perth Wildcats – 2 Year Deal (2023-25)

Dan Boyce (811 Posts)

Dan Boyce is a die-hard Sydney Kings fan who grew up in Melbourne during the roaring 90's of Australian Basketball and spent far too much time collecting Futera NBL Basketball cards.