NCAA Basketball: Remembering all-time head coaching great Lou Henson

Let’s take a look at the impact that Lou Henson had on NCAA Basketball during a long, impressive Hall of Fame career.

The NCAA Basketball world has suffered a great loss with the passing of Hall of Fame coach Lou Henson. He remains the winningest head coach at both Illinois and New Mexico State and made a lasting impact at both programs. Following his retirement in 2005, Henson dealt with health problems including a battle with lymphoma; he was 88 at the time of his death.

Henson’s career began with humble beginnings, growing up in a small town in eastern Oklahoma before playing ball at Connors Junior College. He spent the final two years of his collegiate playing career with New Mexico State, beginning a relationship with the state that would last over fifty years. His coaching career began soon after graduation, spending six years at Las Cruces High School not far from his alma mater.

In 1962, he was hired to his first collegiate coaching job, taking over as head coach at Hardin-Simmons, a small school in Abilene, Texas. Back in those days, Hardin-Simmons was still a Division 1 program. As a condition to his contract, he insisted that the school be racially integrated. Henson led the Cowboys to a 67-36 mark in his four seasons with the school. As a result of that success, he returned to his alma mater, this time as head coach.

Henson would spend the next nine seasons with the Aggies, building the school’s most impressive run of success. He led New Mexico State to six NCAA Tournaments, but none were as impressive as the 1970 team, which made it all the way to the Final Four. To this date, this is the only time the Aggies have advanced beyond the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Tournament.

The Aggies were a well-oiled machine during Henson’s nine years with the program. A struggling independent when he inherited the program, they’d join the MVC soon after their Final Four run and be set up for future success down the line. Henson’s record of 173-71 was fantastic and set him up nicely to get a promotion in 1975.

At that point, Henson was hired by Illinois, taking over the Big Ten program and beginning a long run of success with the Fighting Illini. Henson spent 21 seasons at Illinois, sending the Illini to 12 NCAA Tournaments. Among this success was the 1984 team, which won the Big Ten regular-season title and advanced to the Elite Eight, and the 1989 team, which made the Final Four, the program’s first trip in nearly four decades. As previously mentioned, Henson remains the winningest head coach at Illinois, racking up 423 wins in his 21 seasons at the helm. He brought talent like Marcus Liberty and Nick Anderson to the program, with that 1989 team nicknamed the “Flying Illini”.

After stepping aside from coaching, he surprisingly returned to New Mexico State in 1997 on an interim basis, though he was named the permanent coach soon after. He led the Aggies to the Big West Tournament title and a return to the NCAA Tournament. His second tenure with the Aggies lasted until his retirement in 2005 and allowed him to reclaim his spot as New Mexico State’s winningest head coach.

Henson didn’t win any national titles, but he did lead two programs to some of their greatest moments. His two-plus decades at Illinois produced some of the greatest and most consistent success the program has seen in the last half-century. Additionally, he rewrote the record books at New Mexico State and is responsible for the program’s finest era of basketball. Even today, as New Mexico State sits in complete control of the WAC, these conference champions barely measure up to the program Henson had running in the 1960’s and 70’s.

Following a successful career, Henson remains one of the most underappreciated coaches in college basketball history. He was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015, and his 775 career wins are tied with John Calipari for 13th all-time, ranking higher than Hall of Famers like Phog Allen and John Wooden. Henson’s impact at New Mexico State remains today and his work at Illinois and even Hardin-Simmons remains phenomenal. He was truly one of the great minds in college basketball and Henson will be sorely missed.