They went their separate ways after high school, like most friends do, determined to stay in touch.
They moved to different states, enrolled at different colleges,
and even decided to play different sports.
Quincy Henderson was the first to go, leaving for Creighton
University in Omaha.
A year later, Jonte Flowers spurned the hardwood for the gridiron at Camp Randall Stadium at the University of Wisconsin.
Meanwhile, Curtrel Robinson was preparing for his senior
season of basketball at La Follette High School in Madison,
Wis., two years removed from the state championship the three friends and teammates won as Lancers.
They didn’t know much about Winona State University,
and they certainly didn’t imagine they would eventually be reunited there to accomplish even bigger and better things together.
Four years after leading La Follette to a 25-1 record and a 43-40 win over Fond du Lac in Wisconsin’s state high school title game, Flowers, Henderson and Robinson each donned Winona State purple and white and started for the Warriors against Virginia Union in the 2005-06 NCAA Division II national championship game.
WSU defeated the Panthers 73-61 on national television and in front of 4,093 fans at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Mass., on March 25, 2006. It was the 22nd win in a row for the Warriors — then a school record — and the icing on a dramatic postseason in which WSU executed furious second-half rallies in four of its final six games.
Many thought the run to be improbable, shocking, even a product of destiny.
Much of the same has been said about the unique paths that led to the reunion of the three high school teammates at WSU, where they picked up right where they left off at La Follette.
“It’s definitely cool,” Henderson said. “And the fact that we all ended up coming back to one place is kind of weird.”
Weird for them, but a pleasant
surprise for WSU coach Mike Leaf, who watched all three compete in high school and hoped they’d eventually commit to Winona State.
Only Robinson took Leaf up on the offer originally, but the youngest of the three has no complaints with how everything
turned out.
“It’s real cool,” Robinson said. “Even though our paths here were a little different, I think everything worked out for the best.” Henderson, the oldest of the trio, averaged 14.5 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.8 blocks and 1.8 steals as a senior at La Follette, earning first-team all-state honors by The Associated Press. He had 24 points, nine rebounds and four blocks in a state semifinal win over Wauwatosa, followed by 13 points, eight rebounds and four blocks in the state title game.
Henderson, who was being recruited by Leaf, had an interest
in WSU but ended up receiving an offer from Division I Creighton and signed with the Bluejays in April.
A year later, Flowers was putting the finishing touches on a senior season in which he averaged 18 points, six rebounds, 5.4 steals and 4.2 assists at La Follette, earning him AP all-state honors along with his younger brother and teammate, Michael, who now plays basketball at Wisconsin.
Basketball, however, may not have been Flowers’ best sport.
As a standout wide receiver, Flowers caught 38 passes for 683 yards and eight touchdowns in his senior season, earning all-state honors and an invitation from Wisconsin football coach Barry Alvarez to come to Madison as a preferred walk-on.
His stay didn’t last long.
“I missed basketball,” Flowers said. “I spent a lot of my time at the gym playing pickup games instead of trying to get better at football, so I was like, ‘I might as well go somewhere and play basketball.’
“Basketball is where my heart is.” Flowers received interest from some Division I schools, but a transfer to another Division I program meant he’d have to sit out a year — something he wasn’t willing to do.
At the same time, Robinson had decided to sign with WSU but opted not to actively influence Flowers’ decision.
“We wanted to let each other make our own decisions,” Robinson
said. “But once we found out what we both chose, we sat down, talked about it and developed a little dream we had.”
Meanwhile, things resembled a nightmare for Henderson at Creighton. He suffered a season- ending ankle injury during the team’s first practice.
“That was just a terrible start,” Henderson said. “There were injuries after that, too, and it just didn’t feel like it was a fit for me. I just felt like it was time for a change.”
The injury forced Henderson to redshirt in his first season.
As a redshirt freshman the next year, he averaged 1.2 points and 1.5 rebounds in 22 games. As a sophomore, he played in just four of the team’s first 15 games before deciding to leave.
He contacted his former high school teammates and asked about the situation at WSU.
“I talked to both of them throughout the process, just kind of felt it out and asked what they felt about it,” Henderson
said. “I was like, ‘Well, two guys I know like it there, I’ve played with them before, they’re good players, and we’ve been successful in the past, so why not give it a shot?’
“Things just kind of fell in place.”
Henderson decided to call Winona home before ever stepping
foot on campus.
“I told (Leaf) I’d come here before I’d ever been on campus,”
Henderson said. “I had never been to Winona before; I just knew what Jonte and Curt had told me, nothing else.”
After being reunited in storybook fashion, the three didn’t miss a beat on or off the court.
“It was cool because, obviously, we know each other’s playing style,” said Flowers, who has roomed with Robinson since his first year. “It all just clicked and really helped with team chemistry. It’s been very successful for us.”
Not much had changed since high school, except for maybe some hairstyles.
“We all used to have the afro at some point in high school,” Henderson laughed. “It was kind of our thing.”
Flowers remembers everyone getting together at his house before high school games so his mom could fix up their hair.
“After school, before games, we’d all go to my place and we’d sit there and play cards while some of the other guys would sit there and get their hair done,” he said. “We had some good times in high school.”
The good times certainly haven’t ended.
The trio has combined to average 32.3 points and 13.4 rebounds per game for the No. 3-ranked Warriors, who extending their winning
streak in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference to 41 games after stomping Mary (N.D.) 95-45 on Saturday.
Henderson is averaging 9.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game and, on the defensive end, he has the size and the athletic ability to guard any position.
Robinson, a reserve averaging nearly 20 minutes per game, is shooting
52 percent from the floor and averaging 8.2 points. His frightening athletic ability was best exemplified in a 100-81 drubbing of Viterbo on Dec. 19, when he raced down the court on a fast break and executed
a 360-degree dunk — the second of his career.
Flowers is averaging 14.5 points on 50 percent shooting, 4.8 rebounds and 3.15 assists. The three-time defending NSIC defensive player of the year currently ranks third in Division II with 3.25 steals per game.
It’s unknown if the La Follette trio will ever play competitive
basketball again after this year, whether it be playing professionally or on the same team in pickup games at the local gym years down the road.
They’ll probably go their separate ways, determined to stay in touch.