MISSOULA — Jace Henderson continues to climb the coaching ranks.
The Billings native and former Montana Lady Griz basketball player has accepted a full-time job on the women's basketball coaching staff at the University of Nebraska, the school announced on June 30.
Henderson also helped announce it on Twitter on Thursday, saying, "The Good Life, I’m humbled and honored for this opportunity. I love this program and the special people in it. #GBR."
Henderson, who was hired at Nebraska last season as a graduate assistant manager under head coach Amy Williams, has been promoted to the director of player personnel, development & influence. Her new position went into effect July 1.
It's the latest move for Henderson, who was a decorated prep standout in volleyball, basketball and track and field at Billings Senior High School. Henderson was a two-time Gatorade Player of the Year in volleyball for the Broncs and initially went to UM to compete on the volleyball team.
After one season of volleyball, Henderson made the switch to college basketball and joined the Lady Griz program where she played for four years and started as a junior and senior. She was a second-team All-Big Sky selection as a senior in 2018-19 and was twice voted the team's Mary Louise Pope Zimmerman most valuable player. She was also voted as the Shannon Green most inspirational player three times during her time at UM.
As a senior with UM, Henderson averaged 12.0 points, 8.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. In total, she played in 111 games for the Lady Griz.
Henderson immediately jumped into coaching after that and was a grad assistant for the Lady Griz in 2019-20 before getting promoted to full-time assistant in the COVID-19 impacted 2020-21 season under former coach Mike Petrino.
She earned her bachelor's degree in organizational communication from Montana in 2019, before claiming her master's degree in public administration in 2022. She is pursuing a master's degree in educational administration at Nebraska.
