Career
He retired as the all-time leader in victories at the University of Illinois with 423 victories and New Mexico State with 289 victories. Henson is also one of only four National Collegiate Athletic Association coaches to have amassed at least 200 total wins at two institutions. In August 2015, prior to the reopening of the newly renovated State Farm Center at the University of Illinois, the hardwood floor was dedicated and renamed Lou Henson Court in his honor.
Henson began his coaching career at Las Cruces High School in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
He started coaching in the college ranks in 1962 at Hardin-Simmons University. As a condition of taking the Hardin-Simmons job, Henson insisted that the team (and thus the school) be racially integrated, a condition to which the university agreed.
In 1966, he took over at his alma mater, New Mexico State University. In his first season at NMSU, the Aggies rebounded from a 4–22 record in the prior season to finish 15–11 and went to the National Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament.
In 1970, Henson would help lead the Aggies to the Final Four for the only time in the school"s history.
In 1975, Henson moved to the University of Illinois to replace Gene Bartow, after Bartow left Illinois to replace John Wooden at University of California, Los Los Angeles He would lead the Fighting Illini to the 1989 Final Four. In 21 years at Illinois, Henson garnered 423 wins and 224 losses (654 winning percentage), and with a record of 214 wins and 164 losses (567) in Big Ten Conference games. The 214 wins in Big Ten games were the third highest total ever at the time of his retirement.
At Illinois, Henson coached many future National Basketball Association players, including Eddie Johnson, Derek Harper, Ken Norman, Nick Anderson, Kendall Gill, Kenny Battle, Marcus Liberty, Steve Bardo, and Kiwane Garris and was known for his trademark, Lou-Do.
In 1997, Henson returned to New Mexico State as interim head coach after Neil McCarthy was abruptly fired before the start of the season. Henson wanted to donate his time, but was told that state law didn"t allow him to coach for free.
He finally accepted a nominal salary of $1 per month. After a successful season, he was given his old job back on a permanent basis.
He retired for good midway through the 2004-2005 season due to non-Hodgkin"s lymphoma.
His second stint allowed him to regain his standing as New Mexico State"s all-time winningest coach, passing McCarthy. In July 2007, Henson announced that he was again undergoing chemotherapy for the same strain of lymphoma that he had battled four years previously. He was undergoing treatment in Champaign, Illinois, where he lives in the summer.
In July 2015, Henson once again entered chemotherapy for "bone marrow problems."
Henson "returned to coaching" at age 82 as coach of the New Mexico House of Representatives team in a charity contest versus the New Mexico State Senate team on February 7, 2014.