Lou Henson began his playing career at New Mexico State in 1950, and 65 years later his coaching career has finally earned him an induction into the College Basketball Hall of Fame. His numbers are pretty spectacular: 779 wins, a pair of Final Fours, and the all-time leader in victories at not 1 but 2 different schools (423 wins at Illinois and another 289 at New Mexico State). He began his college coaching career at Hardin-Simmons during an era of extreme racial turmoil in the 1960s by insisting that the school let him bring African-American student-athletes to campus before he would accept the job. He was 1 of the first college coaches in the South to insist upon integration, which was 1 of the proudest moments of his long and successful career. In August the Illini renamed its court in honor of a man who made 15 postseason appearances in a 17-year span from 1980-1996. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Henson about all his accomplishments and we congratulate him on his outstanding career!
You began your coaching career at Las Cruces High School, where you went 145-23 and won 3 straight state titles from 1959-1961: how were you able to be so dominant for several years in a row? When I began coaching at Las Cruces we did not have a strong basketball program although we had some talented athletes. We were able to achieve success through a sound developmental program which included good discipline on and off the court and lots of hard work by players and coaches alike.
In 1966 you took over a 4-22 team at your alma mater of New Mexico State and took them to the NCAA tourney despite not having a player taller than 6’5”: how were you able to come in and turn it around so quickly? Those guys played tenacious defense and had excellent shot selection. We implemented a control-type offense similar to Princeton’s, which proved to be very effective for that particular team.
What are your memories of the 1967 NCAA tourney (Elvin Hayes had 30 PTS/14 REB in a 1-PT win by Houston)? That was one of the most interesting games in which I had the opportunity to coach. Houston had a Final 4 team that year and they beat us on a bad call in the last seconds of the game. For our small Aggie players to almost defeat a team of Houston’s tremendous size/talent was a near miracle. That contest confirmed to our fans that our Aggies really were the “Miracle Midgets”!
What are your memories of the 1970 NCAA tourney (eventual champion UCLA beat you for the 3rd straight year in the postseason)? That 1970 team was one of the best that we produced during my coaching career, but UCLA was just a little too talented for us. Charlie Criss, Jimmy Collins, and Sam Lacey all later played pro basketball.
What are your memories of the 1981 NCAA tourney (Mark Smith made 2 FT with 3 seconds left to clinch a 2-PT win over Wyoming)? Mark put on an outstanding display of his exceptional skills in that ball game, and his fabulous performance enabled us to win. He was 1 of the best overall athletes who I was lucky enough to coach during my entire career.
What are your memories of the 1984 NCAA tourney (Dickie Beal scored the final 5 PTS in a 3-PT win by Kentucky but was not called for traveling towards the end of the game)? That was 1 of the worst officiated games that I have ever experienced. We were forced to play the regional finals on the Wildcats’ home court. Since that game was quite controversial, the NCAA instituted a new rule the following summer preventing any future regional games from being held on a team’s home court. That Illinois group was a Final 4-quality team.
What are your memories of the 1986 NCAA tourney (Terry Coner made a 12-footer in the lane with 1 second left but was not called for traveling in a 2-PT win by Alabama)? I thought that we played an outstanding game but just came up 1 point short. Besides having a skilled ball club you need to have a little luck along the way.
What are your memories of the 1987 NCAA tourney (Ken Norman missed a 15-footer at the buzzer in a 1-PT loss to #14-seed Austin Peay)? It was one of the most disappointing losses that we ever experienced in the NCAA tourney. Austin Peay had an excellent team that had lost an OT game at Kentucky earlier that season. Our coaching staff realized full well the type of team we were facing, but our fans and perhaps our players had underestimated their talent.
What are your memories of the 1988 NCAA tourney (your team missed 5 straight 1-and-1 FT attempts in the closing minutes of a 3-PT loss to Villanova)? We had a 12-PT lead with about 3 minutes to go but we could not make any FTs, which ultimately cost us the game. We did not have a good FT shooting team that year and the pressure of our lead slipping away exacerbated the problem.
Take me through the magical 1989 NCAA tourney:
Kenny Battle scored 28 PTS despite playing with a bum knee and made 2 FT at the end to clinch a 3-PT win over Syracuse: how was he able to play so well despite being injured? Kenny possessed 2 inherent qualities which served him well throughout his playing career: tremendous heart and toughness. He was a great inspiration not only to his teammates but to all of us who were privileged to watch him perform.
Sean Higgins made a put-back with 2 seconds left in a 2-PT win by conference rival/eventual champion Michigan: how devastating was it to lose like that after you had beaten the Wolverines twice earlier that year? A couple of reasons that we came up short in that game were that Battle sprained his leg in the Louisville game and Lowell Hamilton sprained his ankle in the Syracuse game. Lowell did not work out the entire week prior to the Final 4. Those injuries proved too costly for us to overcome an inspired Wolverines team.
What are your memories of the 1993 NCAA tourney (Lucious Harris scored 27 PTS but missed a 3-PT shot in the final seconds of a 3-PT loss by Long Beach State)? We played a very talented 49ers team in Salt Lake City. It was a hard-fought game and we were lucky to win it.
What are your memories of the 1995 NCAA tourney (Pooh Williamson had a 4-PT play in the final minute of a 6-PT win by Tulsa)? Tubby Smith had an outstanding ball club and they simply outplayed us in that particular game.
In 1997 you agreed to return and coach at New Mexico State for $1/month after a scandal forced the removal of the head coach right before the start of the season: why did you agree to work so cheap, and how were you able to clean up the program? I was drawing my retirement from Illinois and although we were not wealthy at that time we did not need the additional income. Since I had both played and coached for the Aggies we wanted to give back to the University, Las Cruces, and the state of New Mexico (all the communities where I received my coaching start). In order to improve the basketball program we emphasized academics 1st and basketball 2nd, as should be the case at any educational institution. We monitored classroom attendance, provided study halls and tutoring at home and on road trips, and generally stressed individual accountability. Eventually these efforts were rewarded by the greatly improved behavior of our student-athletes both on and off the court as well as rising graduation rates.
You remain the all-time winningest coach at both Illinois and New Mexico State, and your 779 career victories remains in the top-25 all-time: what made you such a great coach, and how were you able to have so much success at multiple schools? During my high school/college playing career I was lucky enough to have had really excellent coaches who taught me the game of basketball. They passed on outstanding coaching philosophies which have been indispensable to me throughout the years.
In 2005 you retired from coaching due to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma: how frustrating was it to not be able to go out on your own terms, and how are you feeling these days? Actually it was viral encephalitis precipitated by a very strong chemotherapy regimen that ultimately forced me to retire from coaching. After recovering somewhat from the encephalitis I attempted to resume coaching from a wheelchair, but just 1 day before my purported return to the sideline I entered the hospital with pneumonia. After having “the talk” with my wife we decided that perhaps God was trying to send us a message so I took myself out of the game. The effects of the viral encephalitis have greatly diminished with the exception of a partially paralyzed right leg which makes walking for exercise out of the question. However, I swim almost every day, lift weights several days/week, and play golf a few times/week thanks to riding in a cart. To exercise my brain I do crosswords and play bridge (social and duplicate) about 6 days/week. I feel extremely blessed at my age to be leading a full and satisfying life.