69����

Henkel would be the anchor for Janesville Craig’s run to a sectional final in 2024. That year he was an honorable mention on the Big Eight’s All-Conference team. In 2025, the 6-foot-8 Henkel jumped to the first team.

Coaches around Wisconsin also took notice of Henkel’s game and nominated him to play in this year’s Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association All-Star Game played Thursday in Wisconsin Dells. The WIAA Division 1 game starts at 4 p.m at Justa- game Fieldhiosue.

But before he marked his legacy as one of Craig impactful player in Cougar history, he first had to improve his game.

Ben McCormick, the Craig boys’ basketball coach from 2017-24 and current athletic director, first remembers seeing Henkel as youth camps.

McCormick described him as three things: big, lanky and having potential.

“Not somebody who jumped off the paper at you,” McCormick said.

Since Henkel was homeschooled, a couple years passed until McCormick saw Henkel next.

“And all of a sudden you’re like ‘Holy Cow’,” McCormick said. “He can do some things and just got better and better and bigger and bigger. Both height wise and physically developed.”

The first time current Craig boys’ basketball coach, Jack Hoag, saw Henkel was the summer before his freshman year at an open gym. Like McCormick, he saw the potential.

“At open gym, you could see there was potential,” Hoag said. “He was kind of a quiet kid. I think at the time he was probably 6-7. He could really run, and had good hands.”

Henkel decided to play at Craig, his freshman year. Prior to that, he played basketball at Oakhill Christian School in Janesville.

He wanted to play for Craig because he wanted to step up his game. But the year didn’t go as he envisioned.

“I just wasn’t enjoying it as much, so I went back to Oakhill,” Henkel said.

The move was also made so he could continue to play with his old teammates.

“That was the main factor,” Henkel said. “To play with most of my friends that were graduating that year,”.

“When you do this long enough you just coach the people that are there,” Hoag said. “He really wanted to (return to Oakhill) and we supported him and wished the best for him.”

That year was the 2022-23 season. The Cougars went 14-12 and lost in a WIAA Division 1 regional final to Franklin, 62-55.

Henkel returned to Craig for his junior season for his first year of varsity basketball—And he did so at the right time, teaming up with seniors Carson McCormick, Jackson Bertagnoli, Charlie Claas, Michael Zink and Kyle Chrostowski for the perfect mix of shooting and experience.

The Cougars went 12-6 in the Big Eight that year and 19-9 overall. They beat Middleton (75-54), Waunakee (63-59), Sun Prairie West (74-71) in post-season play before falling to Kettle Moraine, one game shy of the state tournament.

Henkel averaged 15.7 points per game in 2023-24.

“I didn’t know what to think about that year,” Henkel said. “I didn’t know how far we were going to go. I knew we were pretty good that year so I was excited to see how we were going to do. We would have loved to go to state, but I still see that season as a complete success.”

The Cougars weren’t able to reach the same peak in the 2024-25 season. While Henkel was a member of the Big Eight first team and averaged 20.7 ppg, the team went 13-12 overall and suffered a 64-43 loss against Oregon in a regional game.

“We didn’t exactly know how we would do, losing almost seven seniors that year (from the 2023-24 Cougar squad), but I still thought we had a chance and I thought we still had a pretty solid season,” Henkel said.

At the conclusion of his high school career, Henkel said he had six full-ride scholarships to Division II schools. In total, he visited 12 schools.

Dordt University, a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, private Christian school in Sioux Center, Iowa, was the last school he visited and it’s the one where he’ll be continuing his basketball career.

“I was looking for a Christian college, where I could get a good, Godly education. It just seemed like a great fit,” Henkel said.

The All-Star game marks the end of Henkel’s time representing Janesville Craig. While he won’t be competing in the game, he said he was honored to be selected.

“It means a lot and I know it’s a great privilege to play in the All-Star game,” Henkel said.