Georgia Southern announces Charlie Henry will be next head coach

Alabama assistant Charlie Henry has been hired as the next head coach at Georgia Southern, the Sun Belt school announced on Tuesday. Henry has been in Tuscaloosa since 2019 following two seasons as the head coach of the Windy City Bulls of the NBA G League.

“From the outset, we were committed to finding the best coach and developer of young men to lead Georgia Southern to new heights,” AD Jared Benko said. “Charlie’s name was frequently mentioned nationwide as one of college basketball’s most elite minds and coaches. He has been instrumental in Alabama’s success over the past four years, culminating with a No. 1 seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament. His two years as an assistant coach in the NBA with the Chicago Bulls and his two years as the head coach of the NBA G League Windy City Bulls uniquely prepared Charlie for this role. Please welcome Charlie and his family to Eagle Nation!”

Henry is a Michigan-native who actually started his coaching career as one of Nate Oats‘ assistants at Romulus HS (MI). He’s back with Oats at Alabama now, helping build an SEC powerhouse that was just named #1 overall seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

“Georgia Southern is a special institution with a beautiful campus, a passionate fan base, and is supported by the tight-knit Statesboro community,” Henry said in the release. “We will give maximum effort to ensure success in the extremely-competitive Sun Belt Conference, and our program will be a source of pride for the University and the region, both on and off the court. Hail Southern!”

In addition to working with Oats, Henry spent four years working under Fred Hoiberg – first at Iowa State and then as an assistant with the Chicago Bulls. It was that second job that led to him becoming a head coach in 2017, going 51-49 in two seasons at the helm of the Bulls’ developmental team.

credit to Georgia Southern Athletics for the image