- January 28, 2026
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It wasn’t basketball which drew Gavin Henderson to Lakewood Ranch Preparatory Academy.
The opportunity to compete didn’t capture his attention above all else.
When he enrolled as a freshman for the 2023-24 academic year, there was no championship legacy. Standards had not been set. The program hadn’t even laid a foundation.
He came to the charter school — which opened in August 2022 — strictly for academics, and arrived before the boys basketball team’s inaugural season.
Henderson just happens to be a particularly prolific scorer when he does step out of the classroom and onto the hardwood.
Now a junior guard for the Eagles, he’s produced a team-high 27.5 points per game through Jan. 23, topping the average of any player across all seven public high school programs in Manatee County. But the scale of his dominance is even greater.
The 5-foot-11 talent ranks fifth statewide for scoring. He also leads the entire state with 222 made field goals (419 attempts), per MaxPreps. He scored a career-high 54 points against Sarasota Military Academy Jan. 23.
It’s a season which has altered his perception of the future.
“I’m realizing that I might be good enough to play college basketball,” Henderson said. “All my hard work throughout the summer, four hours a day training, it’s finally looking like it might pay off.”
Most of his days are spent working toward the Cambridge/AICE diploma, which if completed with 100-plus community service hours, will qualify him for a Bright Futures scholarship. That would cover 100% of tuition costs at any public university in Florida.
Guided by that pursuit, Henderson has stayed at Lakewood Ranch Prep instead of seeking competitive opportunities elsewhere. He’s uninterested in transferring to a public school with a bigger talent pool or a private school with a foothold in recruiting.
The junior is intent on remaining with the Eagles to see his journey through. Basketball has always been more of a hobby to him than a means of earning a higher education.
“Especially in this NIL world, he can transfer. He could be one of the best players on any team in the country,” said coach Mike Rostampour. “His mindset is not on that. He wants to go to college, play for a high-academic school and be successful in life.”
For all the times Henderson has torched defenders this season, he didn’t spend much time playing basketball during his childhood.
He didn't grow up around the game.
Organized basketball entered his life as a seventh grader. His father, Chris Henderson, once played at the high school level and has proudly donned the blue and white as a Kentucky men’s basketball enthusiast. So he advised his son to switch over from baseball.
He started for the Eagles in 2024-25 — their first full season — and buoyed the offense. He averaged 20.6 points per game as the only player to put up double figures.
Lakewood Ranch Prep finished at 10-15 with its star guard’s 5.4 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game leading the way. Embracing the role of a high-volume shooter and scorer, Henderson tried to make a name for himself at a program with no established reputation.
“This year, we’ve had close games against all these other public schools and it’s making sure that our name gets out there,” Henderson said.
Over the summer of 2025, he sweated out hour after hour in the gym on a daily basis to develop his game. Not only did he focus on his 3-point shooting, but he sought to improve his vision as a passer — to facilitate more for his teammates.
His own production is on a whole new level.
In 2025-26, Henderson has reached the 30-point plateau on seven separate occasions, as of Jan. 23, and he has scored 20 or more in 17 of his 21 games played.
Only a select few in Florida at his age have posted bigger numbers on the scoreboard. Among juniors alone, he ranks third for scoring.
“Gavin would be successful and be a superstar with any team, with any coach,” Rostampour said. “But with any great player, you need to poke them, and you need players to accept that poking.”
Being open to new leadership was a necessary precursor to a statistically sizzling season. Rostampour is in his first year at the helm, and has guided the Eagles to a 10-11 record thus far while trying to shape a winning program.
He understands the team isn’t at a high level yet, and lacks the depth other programs possess because of smaller enrollment. But he said his players' practice habits are at the highest level.
In that vein, he pushes Henderson — hard. He said the veteran guard still needs to be a better free-throw shooter and a better defender if he wants to excel in college basketball.
Rostampour, though, has also noticed a valuable intangible. Henderson is what he calls, “selfishly unselfish.”
“He wants to be a guy. He doesn’t want to be called out,” Rostampour said. “Look at the school he goes to, Lakewood Ranch Prep — new school, no fame, no notoriety. He wants to be just one of the guys, but he wants to help build something.”
Henderson’s success has come at a charter school with an enrollment of 448 for the 2025-26 academic year. There are 84 students alongside him in the Class of 2027, which next spring, will be only the second graduating class in school history.
The balance of books and ‘ball in his life hasn’t tipped toward the latter, even as he stands out statewide for what he can do on the court. Education remains essential.
Academics are why he came to the school, and they're why he's chosen to stay. He isn’t going anywhere — that is, until the right college program comes calling.
“If I’m able to get to the college level, my goal is just to play four years and have fun,” Henderson said. “For the love of the game.”
