Henson began his training career at Las Cruces (New Mexico) High School in 1957 and invested 21 years at Illinois. In his 21 years with Illinois, Henson turned the program around as he notched 12 NCAA competition looks.
In 1975, Henson moved to Illinois to replace Gene Bartow, after Bartow left Illinois to change John Wooden at UCLA. In 21 years at Illinois, Henson had a 423-224 record that included a 214-164 record in the Big Ten. After retiring from Illinois, Henson divided time between his Las Cruces home and Champaign.
Lou Henson, the all-time wins leader as maless basketball coach at the University of Illinois and New Mexico State, passed away Saturday at his house in Champaign, Illinois, at age 88, his family announced Wednesday.
He was buried Wednesday in an event in Champaign, which was participated in by household just.
Henson started his coaching profession at Las Cruces (New Mexico) High School in 1957 and spent 21 years at Illinois. He retired in 2005, 21 wins shy of ending up being just the 5th coach in Division I history to win 800 video games. Henson retired with a profession record of 779-413, the sixth-winningest in Division I history at the time.
Throughout a 41-year career, Henson became the winningest coach at Illinois (423) and New Mexico State (289 ), where he coached from 1966 to 1975 and once again from 1997 to 2005. He led both schools to the Final Four– the Aggies in 1970 and the Illini in 1989.
Lou Henson is the winningest maless basketball coach at both Illinois and New Mexico State and led both schools to Final Four appearances. Michael Allio/Icon SportswireHenson rebuilt Illinois basketball into a national power in the late 1980s. When Henson took the Illinois job in 1975, he inherited a program that was coming off back-to-back last-place finishes in the Big Ten. In his 21 years with Illinois, Henson turned the program around as he notched 12 NCAA tournament appearances.
” Our Orange and Blue hearts are heavy,” Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman stated in a statement. “We have actually lost an Illini icon. We have actually lost a good example, a buddy, and a leader. We have actually lost our coach. Coach Henson might be gone, however the memories he offered us, and the tradition he developed, will last forever. He was responsible for practically 800 wins in the record book and many Fighting Illini moments frozen in time, however Coach Hensons real measure will be felt in the lives he touched– the lives of his previous gamers, individuals on this school, and good friends in our wider community.
” We are all much better for whatever time we were fortunate to invest with Coach Lou, whether it was five minutes or 50 years. He made everybody seem like a good friend. I so enjoyed my time with Coach these last five years, and I will miss him. Our prayers and ideas are with Mary, Lisa, Lori, Leigh Anne, and the whole Henson household. Their household will constantly belong to ours.”
Officially, Henson has 779 major-college wins in his profession at Hardin-Simmons, New Mexico State and Illinois. That does not count 18 wins taken away by the NCAA when Henson served essentially as a volunteer coach after New Mexico State fired Neil McCarthy in 1997 throughout an NCAA investigation into violations.
The basketball courts at both Illinois and New Mexico State are named in honor of Henson.
A local of Okay, Oklahoma, Henson played guard for New Mexico State, then coached Las Cruces High School to 3 consecutive state champions, a run that ended in 1961.
He started training in the college ranks in 1962 at Hardin-Simmons in Abilene, Texas. As a condition of taking the Hardin-Simmons job, Henson insisted that the team (and thus the school) be racially integrated, a condition to which the university concurred.
” When I was contacted by Hardin-Simmons, I stated no,” Henson when told the Champaign News-Gazette. “But ultimately I consented to meet the board, and I informed them I d consider it if they would allow me to incorporate the team. If we could not recruit Black players, I told them there was no way we might be effective. The board fulfilled the next morning and concurred, and I took the task.”
In 1966, he took over at his alma mater, New Mexico State. In his very first season at NMSU, the Aggies rebounded from a 4-22 record in the previous season to finish 15-11 and go to the NCAA tournament. In 1970, Henson would assist lead the Aggies to the Final Four for the only time in the schools history. They lost in the competition semifinal to ultimate champion UCLA, the 3rd time in three years the Aggies lost to UCLA in the tournament. Henson coached at New Mexico State for nine seasons, with six journeys to the NCAA competition and four 20-win seasons.
In 1975, Henson moved to Illinois to change Gene Bartow, after Bartow left Illinois to change John Wooden at UCLA. In 21 years at Illinois, Henson had a 423-224 record that included a 214-164 record in the Big Ten. The 214 wins in Big Ten games were the third-highest total at the time of his retirement. His 1988-89 Illini team won a then-school record 31 games and went to the Final Four.
After retiring from Illinois, Henson split time between his Las Cruces house and Champaign. Henson concurred to be interim coach.
” I made money every other month,” Henson once informed press reporters in 2004. “I got 3 checks, and they were for 77 cents of take-home pay. I still have them.”
