Lou Henson
Lou Henson (1932-2020)
Teams coached: Hardin-Simmons Cowboys, New Mexico State Aggies, Illinois Fighting Illini
Hardin-Simmons record: 67-36 (.650)
New Mexico State record: 289-152 (.655) **
Illinois record: 423-224 (.654)
Overall record: 779-412 (.654) **
Career Accomplishments:
- NCAA National Championships: 0
- NCAA Tournament Appearances: 18 (1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1975, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1999)
- NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen: 6 (1968, 1969, 1970, 1984, 1985, 1989)
- NCAA Tournament Final Four: 2 (1970, 1989)
- NIT Championships: 0
- NIT Appearances: 4 (1980, 1982, 1996, 2000)
- Sun Belt Regular Season Champion: 1 (2002)
- Big West Regular Season Champion: 1 (1999)
- Big Ten Regular Season Champion: 1 (1984)
- Big West Tournament Champion: 1 (1999)
Awards:
- Big Ten Coach of the Year: 1 (1993)
- Missouri Valley Coach of the Year: 1 (1975)
- NABC Golden Anniversary Award (2008)
- National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame (inducted 2015)
Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):
| 1997-2005 | New Mexico State |
| 1975-1996 | Illinois |
| 1966-1975 | New Mexico State |
| 1962-1966 | Hardin-Simmons |
Lou Henson Facts
- Louis Ray Henson
- Born January 10, 1932
- Died July 25, 2020
- Hometown: Okay, Oklahoma
- Alma Mater: New Mexico A&M University (BA, 1954 & MA)
- Played guard for four seasons at New Mexico State (then A&M) for head coaches George McCarty and Presley Askew
- Started his coaching career at Las Cruces HS (NM), where he won three state championships in four seasons as head coach
- Joined the college ranks in 1962, spending four years as the head coach at Hardin-Simmons in Abilene, TX
- Racially integrated the program upon taking the position
- Returned to his alma mater New Mexico State in 1966, leading the Aggies program for the next nine seasons
- Went to the NCAA Tournament five times, including a trip to the 1970 Final Four
- Left for Illinois in 1975, where he would coach the Illini for the 21 seasons
- Reached the postseason fifteen times (12 NCAA, 3 NIT) and won 423 games during his tenure
- Left (and remains) the all-time winningest head coach in Illinois history
- Floor at Illinois’ State Farm Center renamed “Lou Henson Court” in 2015 in his honor
- Returned to NMSU in 1997 as interim head coach, accepting a $1/month salary
- Given the job permanently after a successful first season, though that 1997-98 season was later vacated due to an academic fraud committed by previous head coach Neil McCarthy
- Reached the NCAA Tournament in year two and the NIT in year three, but failed to reach the postseason after that
- All-time winningest head coach at New Mexico State with 289 victories
- Retired midway through the 2004-05 season following a diagnosis of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma; underwent chemotherapy in both 2007 and 2015
- Since 2010, CollegeInsider has given out the Lou Henson Award to the nation’s top mid-major player
- Henson passed away in July 2020 at his home in Champaign at the age of 88
- Along with his late wife, Bobbi, has five children
Lou Henson Coaching Tree
- Jimmy Collins (UIC)
- Gene Cross (Erie BayHawks, Toledo)
- Chris Crutchfield (Omaha, East Central)
- Brian Dutcher (San Diego State)
- Rob Evans (Arizona State, Ole Miss)
- John Giannini (La Salle, Maine)
- Rob Judson (Northern Illinois)
- Scott Nagy (Wright State, South Dakota State)
- Tony Stubblefield (DePaul, New Mexico State)
- Les Wothke (Army, Western Michigan)
- Tony Yates (Cincinnati)
** Listed accomplishments for this coach do not include wins or appearances later vacated by the NCAA