Why Cincinnatis Jarrett Hensley is hoping to make a refined leap this season
CINCINNATI — Jarrett Hensley didn’t think much of it when he fell and injured his wrist early in the game against Houston on March 1, in Cincinnati’s second-to-last regular season game of the 2021-22 season.
“It felt like I sprained it, so I got it taped and kept playing on it,” said Hensley, who suffered the injury to his right, non-shooting hand. “We were doing a double road trip, Houston and SMU, so I got some treatment and kept playing through the conference tournament.”
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The 6-foot-9 sophomore and former four-star recruit had followed Wes Miller from UNC Greensboro to Cincinnati and actually played his best basketball of the year while battling through the injury. Hensley clocked 19 minutes against SMU on the second leg of that road trip, his second-most minutes total of the season, including a nasty tomahawk dunk in traffic. Then in a first-round win over East Carolina in the AAC tournament a week later, he had a season-high seven points and three assists.
But once he returned home to Kansas City following the end of an up-and-down, frustrating first season for Miller and the Bearcats, Hensley’s wrist wasn’t feeling any better.
“I couldn’t even do a push-up or pull-up,” he said. “That was weird.”
JARRETT HENSLEY JUST OPENED UP A PRINT SHOP AND THE POSTERS ARE FOR SALE!!! WHAT!!??? 💪😤💪 @_jarretthensley
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— VIVA LA CATS (A Cincinnati Bearcats Podcast) (@VivaLaCatsPod) March 4, 2022
After getting an X-ray, Hensley discovered he had been playing with a broken scaphoid bone in his right hand for two weeks. He got surgery on it in the spring, had a screw inserted and underwent a nine-week recovery process. For most players, it would have been a convenient excuse early in the offseason to take some extra time off. But Hensley isn’t wired that way.
A long, rangy, athletic wing with an ability to play and guard multiple positions, Hensley is a good fit for Miller’s up-and-down, defensive-focused philosophy. But Hensley has been an inconsistent outside shooter, averaging just 18 percent from beyond the 3-point line and 64 percent from the free-throw line across two seasons at UNCG and Cincinnati. So after the season, he and Miller talked about adjusting his shooting stroke, and Hensley realized that having to do so one-handed was a good place to start.
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“My whole life, I shot from above my head, but when I was injured, I had to shoot one-handed, and obviously you can’t really shoot from above your head like that. So I would do form shooting every day, hundreds of shots,” said Hensley, pantomiming with the flick of his left wrist. “When I got my right hand back, it felt like a natural form to shoot lower. It helped a lot. I feel more consistent now, so I guess it was a blessing in disguise.”
It resulted in a smoother, more fluid shooting motion and an outside shot that has gone in more frequently this offseason. Watching it live, the change is a stark one, but Miller wasn’t surprised by how Hensley got there.
“Jarrett Hensley might work as hard in all facets of development as any player I’ve ever coached,” Miller said. “For a couple years I kept saying he’s the hardest-working freshman I’ve ever seen, then the hardest-working sophomore. This will be Year 3, and I’ve never had a player who is more committed than Jarrett Hensley day to day.”
That work ethic was instilled in Hensley from a young age, growing up in a blue-collar family just a few minutes outside of downtown Kansas City. His father worked nights as an electrician for AT&T, and his mom worked for a small, local company downtown. Hensley attended Leavenworth High School before spending a prep season at Link Year Academy in Branson, Missouri, where former Cincinnati and UNCG player Hayden Koval also attended.
Looking to make a bigger impact off the bench in his second season with the Bearcats, Hensley was determined not to let the broken wrist derail his development.
“(Being injured) kind of drove me crazy a little bit, but I felt like this was a big offseason for me,” he said. “I had some goals I wanted to accomplish, and with the hand, it gave me something to work toward every day. I think it paid off.”
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Another aspect of that big offseason was Hensley traveling to Spain to play with USA East Coast Basketball in early August. The organization, founded in 2006, pools teams of college basketball players for overseas exhibition trips each summer. Miller has had ties to the program, sending UNCG players in previous years, and felt it would be a growth opportunity for a player like Hensley who was looking to take a step up in his third season.
The team, which was coached by Utah Jazz assistant Alex Jensen and included players from Duke, Syracuse, Purdue and Notre Dame, among others, spent two days training together in New York City at Columbia University before traveling to Barcelona for three international friendlies.
“(Coach Miller) felt like me getting reps and playing live would help me out and keep pushing my confidence forward,” Hensley said. “It was amazing. My favorite part was being around guys from other schools, high-major DI players, and talking to them about what their teams and practices are like. And Spain was amazing. It’s so historic, a lot of really cool monuments and very different from home. Really good food. A lot of toasted bread with olive oil and tomatoes, a lot of cheese. I feel like it was a good experience for me.”
USA East Coast went 3-0 on the trip, during which Hensley averaged 12 minutes, seven points and three rebounds per game, getting to play some at the four and five positions. But most significant was the benefit of live reps with and against high-quality talent and how that experience, paired with an enhanced shooting form, further stoked his confidence.
“It’s neat because he’s starting to see some results from that. He’s starting to see it in practice and our live play,” Miller said. “He’s really improved. I’m excited to see what happens with him.”
On a new-look team angling to make major strides under Miller in Year 2, Hensley finds himself sandwiched at the deepest position on the roster, with Landers Nolley II, Jeremiah Davenport, John Newman III and freshmen Dan Skillings and Josh Reed all fighting for minutes. Hensley does have solid defensive ability, which Miller always prizes, and his height and athleticism could allow him to play at the three, the four or the five in some lineups.
He should be a rotation piece for the Bearcats regardless this season, bringing some valuable continuity to a group with a number of new additions. But if he can add a more reliable jump shot and refined all-around game from this offseason to that inherent versatility, it will help establish a more substantial role and make it tougher to keep him off the floor.
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“Day in and day out, whenever we practice and take the floor, just knowing I’m a good player and that Coach has a lot of trust in me to be a leader on the team, someone we can rely on,” Hensley said. “I feel a different energy coming into this year. More comfortable and confident.”
(Photo: Dylan Buell / Getty Images)
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