Lou Henson

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Lou Henson
Sport(s) Basketball
Biographical details
Born (1932-01-10) January 10, 1932
Okay, Oklahoma
Playing career
1950–1954 New Mexico State
Position(s) Guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1962–1966
1966–1975
1975–1996
1997–2005		 Hardin-Simmons
New Mexico State
Illinois
New Mexico State
Head coaching record
Overall 779–422 (.649)

Lou Henson (born January 10, 1932) is a former college basketball coach. He retired as the all time leader in victories at the University of Illinois with 423 victories and New Mexico State with 289 victories. Overall he had 779 victories, putting him in sixth place on the all-time list.

Henson began his coaching career at Las Cruces High School in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Henson was head coach of the varsity for four seasons, and won state championships in 1959, 1960, and 1961.

He started coaching at the college ranks in 1962 at Hardin-Simmons University. In 1966, he took over at his alma mater, New Mexico State University. In his first season at NMSU, the Aggies rebounded from a 4–22 record in the prior season to finish 15–11 and went to the NCAA Tournament. In 1970, Henson would help lead the Aggies to the Final Four for the only time in the school's history. Henson and future NBA players Jimmy Collins, Sam Lacey, and Charlie Criss lost in the tournament semifinal to eventual champion UCLA, the third time in three years the Aggies lost to UCLA in the tournament. Henson coached at New Mexico State for nine seasons, with six trips to the NCAA Tournament and four twenty-win seasons.

In 1975, Henson moved to the University of Illinois to replace Gene Bartow, after Bartow left Illinois to replace John Wooden at UCLA. He would lead the Fighting Illini to the 1989 Final Four. In 21 years at Illinois, Henson garnered 423 wins and 224 losses (.654 winning percentage), and with a record of 214 wins and 164 losses (.567) in Big Ten Conference games. The 214 wins in Big Ten games were the third highest total ever at the time of his retirement. At Illinois, Henson coached many future NBA players, including Eddie Johnson, Derek Harper, Ken Norman, Nick Anderson, Kendall Gill, Kenny Battle, Marcus Liberty, Steve Bardo, and Kiwane Garris and was known for his trademark, Lou-Do.

In 1997, Henson was named interim head coach at New Mexico State after Neil McCarthy was abruptly fired before the start of the season. Henson wanted to donate his time, but after being told state law didn't allow it, he accepted a nominal salary of $1 USD per month. After a successful season, he was given his old job back on a permanent basis. His 1998–99 team won the Big West regular season and tournament titles—notably, the first time in Henson's career that he had won a conference tournament. He retired for good midway through the 2004–05 season due to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. His second stint allowed him to regain his standing as New Mexico State's all-time winningest coach, passing McCarthy.

Health problems

In July 2007, Henson announced that he was again undergoing chemotherapy for the same strain of lymphoma that he had battled four years previously. He was undergoing treatment in Champaign, Illinois, where he lives in the summer.[1]

Head coaching record

Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Hardin–Simmons Cowboys () (1962–1966)
1962–63 Hardin–Simmons 10–16
1963–64 Hardin–Simmons 20–6
1964–65 Hardin-Simmons 17–8
1965–66 Hardin–Simmons 20–6
Hardin-Simmons: 67–36
New Mexico State Aggies (Independent) (1966–1970)
1966–67 New Mexico State 15–11
1967–68 New Mexico State 23–6 NCAA Far West Regional
1968–69 New Mexico State 24–5 NCAA Far West Regional
1969–70 New Mexico State 27–3 NCAA Final Four
New Mexico State Aggies (Missouri Valley Conference) (1970–1975)
1970–71 New Mexico State 19–8 0–0‡ NCAA First Round
1971–72 New Mexico State 19–6 0–0‡
1972–73 New Mexico State 12–14 6–7 T–4th
1973–74 New Mexico State 14–11 7–6 T–3rd NCAA 1st Round
1974–75 New Mexico State 20–7 11–3 2nd NCAA 1st Round
New Mexico State: 173–71 24–16

‡ NMSU ineligible for conference championship

Illinois Fighting Illini (Big Ten Conference) (1975–1996)
1975–76 Illinois 14–13 7–11 7th (T)
1976–77 Illinois 16–14 8–10 6th
1977–78 Illinois 13–14 7–11 7th
1978–79 Illinois 19–11 7–11 7th
1979–80 Illinois 22–13 8–10 6th (T) NIT 3rd Place
1980–81 Illinois 21–8 12–6 3rd NCAA 2nd Round
1981–82 Illinois 18–11 10–8 6th NIT 2nd Round
1982–83 Illinois 21–11 11–7 2nd (T) NCAA 1st Round
1983–84 Illinois 26–5 15–3 1st (T) NCAA Elite Eight
1984–85 Illinois 26–9 12–6 2nd NCAA Sweet 16
1985–86 Illinois 22–10 11–7 4th (T) NCAA 2nd Round
1986–87 Illinois 23–8 13–5 4th NCAA 1st Round
1987–88 Illinois 23–10 12–6 3rd (T) NCAA 2nd Round
1988–89 Illinois 31–5 14–4 2nd NCAA Final Four
1989–90 Illinois 21–8 11–7 4th (T) NCAA 1st Round
1990–91 Illinois 21–10 11–7 3rd (T)
1991–92 Illinois 13–15 7–11 8th
1992–93 Illinois 19–13 11–7 3rd (T) NCAA 2nd Round
1993–94 Illinois 17–11 10–8 4th (T) NCAA 1st Round
1994–95 Illinois 19–12 10–8 5th (T) NCAA 1st Round
1995–96 Illinois 18–13 7–11 9th NIT 1st Round
Illinois: 423–224 214–164
New Mexico State Aggies (Big West Conference) (1997–2000)
1997–98 New Mexico State 18–12 8–8* 7th (T)
1998–99 New Mexico State 23–10 12–4 1st NCAA 1st Round
1999–00 New Mexico State 22–10 11–5 7th NIT 1st Round
New Mexico State Aggies (Sun Belt Conference) (2000–2005)
2000–01 New Mexico State 14–14 10–6 2nd West (T)
2001–02 New Mexico State 20–12 11–4 1st West (T)
2002–03 New Mexico State 20–9 9–6 2nd West
2003–04 New Mexico State 13–14 6–9 4th West (T)
2004–05 New Mexico State 5–13† 1–4 6th West
New Mexico State: 135–86 66–46

* Record vacated due to NCAA infractions.
† Henson replaced by Tony Stubblefield 1/22/05.

Total: 779–422

      National champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference tournament champion
      Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference division champion

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Ex-NMSU, Illinois coach Henson back in chemotherapy". Associated Press. CBS Sportsline. 2007-07-25. 

External links

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