Danielle Henderson

Induction Year: 2025

Location: Commack

Categories: Softball, Coaching, Olympics

Danielle Henderson, a Commack native, was a three-time All-American student-athlete at Massachusetts, a 2000 Olympic gold medalist, and a 2009 UMass Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, and was named the head coach of the Massachusetts softball program in June of 2021. 

Henderson spent seven seasons at the helm of UMass Lowell, accumulating 118 victories and guiding the program through its transition to play at the Division I level. Henderson’s club captured its first-ever America East Regular-Season Championship in 2019. 

Henderson was twice named the America East Coach of the Year (2019 and 2017) while at UMass Lowell, with 32 student-athletes earning all-conference accolades during her tenure.  

 A native of Commack, N.Y., Henderson captured a gold medal as part of the U.S. National Team at the Pan American Games in 1999 before helping Team USA to its second consecutive Olympic Gold Medal at the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, Australia.

Henderson was a four-time All-Atlantic 10 selection and the only player in Atlantic 10 history to win the Most Outstanding Player award four times. She finished her collegiate career with 25 school records and was second all-time on the NCAA strikeout list with 1,343. 

Henderson threw an unprecedented 14 no-hitters and three perfect games, helping Massachusetts to four A-10 championships, four NCAA Regional appearances, and a pair of Women’s College World Series (WCWS) appearances.

In 2001, she had her jersey number (44) retired at Massachusetts, becoming the first and only player in program history to receive such an honor. She was inducted into the New England Women’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2002 and into the UMass Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009. Henderson received her bachelor’s degree in sport management from the University of Massachusetts in 1999.