# Ben Henshall

Ben Henshall (born 22 June 2004) is an Australian professional basketball player for the Perth Wildcats of the National Basketball League (NBL). He played for the BA Centre of Excellence in the NBL1 in 2022 and 2023 and then joined the Otago Nuggets of the New Zealand National Basketball League (NZNBL) in 2024.

## Early life and career

Henshall was born and raised in Western Australia. He grew up in the Perth suburb of Lynwood and initially played soccer and football. 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. 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.

## Professional career

On 17 April 2023, Henshall signed a two-year deal with the Perth Wildcats of the National Basketball League (NBL). In his NBL debut on 1 October 2023, he scored a game-high 24 points in a 110–99 loss to the South East Melbourne Phoenix. He became the first Australian to top score on debut in the NBL and joined Joe Ingles as the only player under the age of 20 to score 20 points on debut. He lacked further opportunities over the rest of the season however, and didn't have another double-figure game. He appeared in 16 games for the Wildcats in 2023–24, averaging 3.1 points and 1.3 rebounds per game.
Henshall joined the Otago Nuggets for the 2024 New Zealand NBL season. On 5 May, he recorded 31 points and 10 rebounds in a 107–94 win over the Nelson Giants. He had two more 31-point games. In 15 games, he averaged 19.9 points, 6.9 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game.
Early in the 2024–25 NBL season, Henshall seized his chances and earned a spot in the Wildcats' starting five. After missing all 10 of his field goal attempts on 25 October against the Sydney Kings, Henshall responded a week later with a career-high 26 points and five 3-pointers in a 113–105 win over the Illawarra Hawks.

## National team

In February 2023, Henshall joined the Australian Boomers as a training player ahead of two FIBA World Cup qualifiers. He re-joined the Boomers as a member of the 12-man squad twelve months later.
In November 2024, Henshall joined the Boomers for the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers.

## Personal life

Henshall is the son of Mark and Joanne.