Pierriá Henry (born January 20, 1993) is an American-born naturalized Senegalese professional basketball player who last played for Saski Baskonia of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. He played college basketball for the University of North Carolina at Charlotte before playing professionally in Georgia, Germany, Israel, Spain, Turkey and Russia.

Pierriá Henry
Henry with Saski Baskonia in 2023
Free agent
PositionPoint guard
Personal information
Born (1993-01-20) January 20, 1993 (age 31)
South Charleston, West Virginia
NationalityAmerican / Senegalese
Listed height6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight197 lb (89 kg)
Career information
High schoolSouth Charleston
(South Charleston, West Virginia)
CollegeCharlotte (2011–2015)
NBA draft2015: undrafted
Playing career2015–present
Career history
2015Vita Tbilisi
2015–2016ratiopharm Ulm
2016–2017Hapoel Eilat
2017–2018Tofaş
2018–2019UNICS Kazan
2019–2021Baskonia
2021–2022Fenerbahçe Beko
2022–2023Baskonia
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  Senegal
AfroBasket
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Rwanda

Early life and college career

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Henry attended South Charleston High School in South Charleston, West Virginia, where he averaged 20 points, 12 rebounds, six assists, five steals and two blocks per game as a senior, earning All-State honors twice.[1]

Henry played college basketball for the Charlotte 49ers, where he became the 49ers' all-time leader in assists (555) and steals (293). Henry was named two-time Conference USA All-Third and Defensive teams, Atlantic 10 Conference All-Defensive and Rookie Teams and the Great Alaska Shootout Tournament MVP.[1]

Professional career

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Vita Tbilisi / Ulm (2015–2016)

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After going undrafted in the 2015 NBA draft, Henry joined the Houston Rockets for the 2015 NBA Summer League.[2] On September 4, 2015, Henry signed with the Georgian team Vita Tbilisi for the 2015–16 season.[3] However, on December 14, 2015, Henry parted ways with Vita Tbilisi due to financial struggles[4] to join the German team ratiopharm Ulm for the remainder of the season.[5] Henry helped Ulm reach the 2016 BBL Finals, where they eventually lost to Brose Bamberg.

Hapoel Eilat (2016–2017)

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On August 3, 2016, Henry signed with the Israeli team Hapoel Eilat for the 2016–17 season.[6] On June 4, 2017, Henry recorded a career-high 34 points, shooting 4-of-5 from three-point range, along with 5 assists, 5 steals and 3 rebounds in a 94–91 playoff win over Maccabi Rishon LeZion.[7] Henry finished the season as the Israeli League second-leading player in assists with 6.1 per game, he helped Eilat reach the 2017 Israeli League Playoffs, where they eventually were eliminated by Maccabi Rishon LeZion.

Tofaş (2017–2018)

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Henry with Tofaş in March 2018

On June 21, 2017, Henry signed with the Turkish team Tofaş for the 2017–18 season.[8] On November 15, 2017, Henry recorded a season-high 26 points, shooting 5-of-8 from three-point range, along with 7 assists and 5 steals in a 100–84 win over his former team ratiopharm Ulm.[9]

Henry helped Tofaş reach the 2018 Turkish League Finals, where they eventually lost to Fenerbahçe. In 53 games played during the 2017–18 season (including the EuroCup and all Turkish competitions), he averaged 10.4 points, 4.1 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.7 steals per game, shooting 40.4 percent from three-point range.

UNICS Kazan (2018–2019)

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On June 29, 2018, Henry joined the Boston Celtics for the 2018 NBA Summer League, where he averaged 10 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.1 steals in six games played for the Celtics.[10] On July 16, 2018, Henry signed a one-year deal with the Russian team UNICS Kazan.[11] On December 24, 2018, Henry was named the EuroCup Regular Season MVP, averaging PIR of 19.4, which was the highest among all players whose teams reached the Top 16.[12] On March 2, 2019, Henry tied his career-high with 34 points, while shooting 14-of-18 from the field, along with seven assists and four steals in a 98–95 loss to Astana.[13]

Henry helped Kazan reach the 2019 EuroCup semifinals, where they eventually lost to Valencia. On April 4, 2019, he earned a spot in the All-EuroCup Second Team.[14]

On June 21, 2019, Henry parted ways with Kazan.[15]

Baskonia (2019–2021)

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On July 17, 2019, Henry signed a one-year deal with Spanish club Kirolbet Baskonia.[16] He averaged 7.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game in EuroLeague. On July 22, 2020, Henry re-signed with the team.[17]

Fenerbahçe (2021–2022)

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On June 24, 2021, Henry signed a 1+1 year deal with Turkish side Fenerbahçe.[18]

Return to Baskonia (2022–2023)

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On October 12, 2022, Henry signed with the Houston Rockets. However, he was waived three days later.

On October 23, 2022, Henry signed a one-year contract with Saski Baskonia of the Spanish Liga ACB, returning for a second stint with the club.[19] In January 2023, his contract was suspended after Henry was put under investigation by FIBA for providing a fake doping sample. In February 2024, FIBA officially suspended him for a total of 48 months. He could return in January 2027.[20]

Career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

EuroLeague

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* Led the league
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2019–20 Baskonia 25 18 24.6 .412 .295 .729 3.6 3.4 1.6* 7.9 10.4
2020–21 34 17 26.8 .458 .329 .814 3.2 7.3 1.7* .1 10.5 16.0
2021–22 Fenerbahçe 28 27 28.7 .383 .333 .732 3.4 4.2 1.8 .1 7.9 9.6
2022–23 Baskonia 13 1 23.9 .438 .258 .806 2.8 6.2 1.4 .2 9.9 14.0
Career 100 63 26.4 .425 .315 .775 3.3 5.3 1.7 .1 9.0 12.5

EuroCup

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2015–16 Ulm 6 2 21.4 .552 .250 .750 3.5 3.2 1.7 .2 7.0 11.8
2017–18 Tofaş 10 5 25.3 .646 .429 .800 3.5 4.6 2.0 .1 10.9 16.3
2018–19 UNICS 21 19 26.3 .444 .322 .735 4.0 5.3 1.5 .1 10.4 14.0

References

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  1. ^ a b "Pierria Henry - Men's Basketball - Charlotte Athletics". charlotte49ers.com. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
  2. ^ "Breaking down the 2015 Houston Rockets' Summer League Roster". TheDreamShake.com. July 10, 2015. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
  3. ^ "Pierria Henry signs with VITA Tbilisi". Sportando.basketball. September 4, 2015. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
  4. ^ "Pavel Googe leaves Vita Tbilisi". Sportando.basketball. December 21, 2015. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
  5. ^ "Pierria Henry inks with Ratiopharm Ulm". Sportando.basketball. December 14, 2015. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
  6. ^ "Pierria Henry inks with Hapoel Eilat". Sportando.basketball. August 3, 2016. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
  7. ^ "מצטיין מחזור 4 בפלייאוף: פריאיי הנרי". basket.co.il (in Hebrew). June 6, 2017. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
  8. ^ "Pierria Henry inks with Tofas Bursa". Sportando.basketball. June 21, 2017. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
  9. ^ "Tofas Bursa vs. ratiopharm Ulm - Game". EuroCupBasketball.com. November 15, 2017. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
  10. ^ "Boston Celtics announce 2018 Summer League roster". CelticsBlog.com. June 29, 2018. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
  11. ^ "Unics Kazan signs Pierria Henry". Sportando.basketball. July 16, 2018. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
  12. ^ "Regular Season MVP: Pierria Henry, UNICS Kazan". EuroCupBasketball.com. December 24, 2018. Archived from the original on December 25, 2018. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
  13. ^ "Astana Tigers 98 at UNICS Kazan 95". RealGM.com. March 2, 2019. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
  14. ^ "2018-19 All-EuroCup Second Team". EuroCupBasketball.com. April 4, 2019. Archived from the original on April 5, 2019. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
  15. ^ "Pierria Henry leaves Unics Kazan". Sportando.basketball. June 21, 2019. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
  16. ^ "Baskonia signs All-EuroCup guard Henry". EuroLeague.net. 17 July 2019. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  17. ^ Maggi, Alessandro (July 22, 2020). "Baskonia re-signs Pierria Henry for another season". Sportando. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  18. ^ "Pierria Henry Fenerbahçe Beko'da". fenerbahce.org. 17 July 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  19. ^ Maggi, Alessandro (October 23, 2022). "Pierria Henry officially returns to Baskonia". Sportando. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  20. ^ "Pierria Henry officially suspended by FIBA for 48 months". Eurohoops. 21 February 2024. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
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