Alaska Sports Hall of Fame

Vante Hendrix

Anchorage’s Vante Hendrix introduced himself to his new team at Cal State Northridge in true takeover fashion.

With his team trailing by five inside the final two minutes, the junior transfer scored four straight points and assisted on the go-ahead bucket with 20 seconds left to supply a 66-63 win over New Mexico State in his first appearance of the season.

If the Matadors didn’t know they had a dynamic difference maker, they do know.

Hendrix, of West High fame, in the second half pumped in nine of his 11 points and went 5-for-5 from the free-throw line.

He was subbed in at the 16-minute mark with his team down 42-34 and played the rest of the game, sparking a come-from-behind victory that gave Northridge (4-3) its first win in two weeks.

The 6-foot-5 guard also grabbed six rebounds and added two assists and two steals in 28 minutes. His rebound total was one shy of his career high.

Hendrix was only on the court after the NCAA last week granted a blanket waiver that made all transfers immediately eligible to provide teams with more flexibility in the midst of the pandemic.

He comes to Northridge after spending his sophomore season at New Mexico and his freshman season at Utah.

Hendrix is a bona fide scorer worth taking a chance on.

He has reached double figures nine times in 23 career games with highs of 19 and 20 points. For his career he has averaged 8.7 points in 22 minutes, a scoring average that improves to 11.4 when he plays at least 26 minutes.