Sports

Longtime Illinois Basketball Coach Lou Henson Dies At 88

Hall of Famer Henson, who guided the 'Flyin' Illini to the 1989 Final Four, was the school's all-time winningest coach with 423 victories.

Lou Henson, the winningest men's basketball coach at the University of Illinois, was buried on Wednesday after dying at age 88.
Lou Henson, the winningest men's basketball coach at the University of Illinois, was buried on Wednesday after dying at age 88. (Getty Images)

ILLINOIS – Lou Henson, the longtime University of Illinois men’s basketball coach who was known for his bright orange blazers and who is credited with bringing the Illini onto the national stage, died at age 88 on Saturday and was buried Wednesday, the school confirmed though Henson's family.

According to a news release posted on the university’s athletics website, Henson died peacefully at his home in Champaign.

Henson is the school’s all-time winningest coach with 423 career victories. Before retiring from coaching in 2005 while he was at New Mexico State, Henson led Illinois to the 1989 Final Four where the famed "Flyin'" Illini lost to eventual national champion Michigan in the national semifinals. Henson, who is also the all-time wins leader at New Mexico State, was induced into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015.

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Henson, whose name is emblazoned on the courts at both Illinois and New Mexico State, coached in Champaign between 1975-96 before he returned his alma mater for his second stint coaching the Aggies. Henson battled health issues in recent years, including non-Hodgkins lymphoma as well as bone-marrow and lung infection issues.

Henson’s 423 wins at Illinois rank fifth all-time in Big Ten history and include the Illini’s 31 victories in 1989. Illinois also won the conference title in 1984, part of a stretch of 11 seasons when Henson’s teams won at least 20 games. Henson, who compiled a career record of 779-419, ranks 23rd on the NCAA’s all-time list among college basketball coaches.

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“When I played for Coach Henson, I did not understand how much he meant to me and the lessons he was trying to give or how much he cared about his players,” Deon Thomas, who is now a part of the school’s radio broadcast team after he scored 2,129 points with the Illini from 1990-94, told the Champaign News-Gazette.

In addition to his Final Four trip with Illinois, Henson also led New Mexico State to the Final Four in 1970. Henson guided Illinois to 12 NCAA Tournament appearances during his tenure.

“Our Orange and Blue hearts are heavy,” Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman said in a statement issued by the university of Wednesday. “We have lost an Illini icon. We have lost a role model, a friend, and a leader. We have lost our coach. Coach Henson may be gone, but the memories he provided us, and the legacy he created, will last forever.”

Whitman continued: “Coach Henson's true measure will be felt in the lives he touched – the lives of his former players, people on this campus, and friends in our broader community. We are all better for whatever time we were privileged to spend with Coach Lou, whether it was five minutes or 50 years. He made everyone feel like a friend.”


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