Karley McHenry’s relationship with the East Texas Baptist University women’s basketball program goes back at least a couple of years, when the Tigers first began wooing the former Pollok Central standout while she still wore Lady Bulldog green.
McHenry would put off her eventual signing with the Tigers for at least one year, spending the 2016-2017 as part of the Angelina College Lady Roadrunner squad. ETBU’s interest never waned, however, leading to McHenry’s recent signing to move from Lufkin to moving in the fall of 2017.
“ETBU has been looking at me for about two years now, and the first time I visited, I loved the environment,” McHenry said. “The people, the instructors, the coaches – they all made really good points as to why I should be there. Not just with basketball. They made me feel like they will help me become the woman I want to be in life.”
In Lady ‘Runner head coach Byron Coleman’s system, McHenry was used primarily as a shooting guard, posting her career high with 25 points – including six three pointers – in a Dec. 7, 2016 game against Bossier Parish Community College.
With the Tigers, however, McHenry will be expected to fill a different role.
“Here at AC this year, I was more of a shooter, but the coaches at ETBU have told me they want me to be a more versatile player, maybe playing from the four spot with both an inside and outside game,” McHenry said. “I think I fit in there very well. The girls who are there acted like they loved me the very first visit, and they’ve stuck with me ever since. They’ve been asking me when I was going to come.”
McHenry credited AC coaches Coleman and assistant Randy McKelvey with elevating her game to a level at which she’ll feel comfortable in making the jump to the NCAA’s Division III level.
“The coaches at AC definitely helped me with my off-the-dribble work, and my shooting got better,” McHenry said. “The way I see the floor and respond to the game are 100 percent better.”
McHenry’s parents are Rique and Billy McHenry.
