College basketball: Former Warriors standout Henderson takes over at St. Cloud State | College

Now, 14 several years later on, he is returning to the NSIC to attempt to win a title for one particular of the Warriors’ rivals.

On May 18, Henderson took more than the St. Cloud Condition men’s basketball application as the new head coach, and even though he claims his squad’s game titles from WSU will be no additional vital than the team’s other NSIC matchups, it might consider some time to get applied to being on the other side of matters.

“It may be a minimal peculiar likely in opposition to my alma mater, but I consider that is also very amazing to have that,” he explained.

Henderson’s journey by way of the coaching ranks started in a way he did not count on.

Right after his college or university vocation finished, he continued his actively playing job in the Southeast Australian Basketball League, playing a few seasons with the Kilsyth Cobras. On the court, Henderson continued to thrive the way he did at WSU, profitable defensive participant of the yr honors twice and foremost the crew to a 2010 division title although likely to the playoffs all three seasons.

Off the court, nevertheless, Henderson began to recognize his enthusiasm for the video game extended beyond just playing. Through his remaining period in Kilsyth, he started off coaching an below-18 youth group, and whilst it was far more hard than he predicted. He also loved it a lot more than he assumed he would.

“I imagined it would be rather simple. I understood the game, understood how to engage in, I experienced some success and imagined I would roll in there, bark at the kids a minimal little bit and they’ll shape up and do specifically what I notify them to,” Henderson reported.

“I discovered very rapid that which is just not how coaching performs,” he additional with a chuckle. “Through the trials of that year, I discovered a ton but I beloved each and every moment of it and shortly soon after that is when I determined I want to get into collegiate coaching.”

Right after that to start with time in the coaching ranks, Henderson went back again to his roots, serving as a varsity assistant coach at Madison La Follette Large University for the 2011-12 season.

Then in 2012, he formally began his foray into collegiate coaching with a two-year stint as a graduate assistant at Division 3 Illinois Wesleyan although he labored on a master’s degree in sports activities management at Illinois Point out College.

Henderson stepped up into an assistant mentor purpose in 2014 at Division 2 West Texas A&M, following as a person of his previous Warriors coaches Tom Brown took the head coaching placement.

At both of his prior coaching stops, Henderson served guide his teams to their divisions’ respective Final Fours, and when put together with his pair of national titles as a participant, it offers him an expert perspective on how to try to flip St. Cloud State into a winner.

“It’s absolutely not an simple journey and it will take a whole lot of perform and a tiny time to do that, but obtaining an understanding of what championship caliber packages glance like is unquestionably very helpful to me as I get underway in this article,” Henderson said.

It has been a couple down decades in a row for the Huskies, finishing beneath .500 for the past two seasons, but the method has witnessed modern good results with a 22-9 document in 2018-19 and a 24-9 mark in 2017-18.

A important step in the rebuilding course of action will be Henderson’s ability to build his recruiting network all over the Midwest. And while he did not closely recruit the Midwest down in Texas, his historical past as a participant in Wisconsin and Minnesota, and a coach in Illinois, offers him a leg up on other incoming coaches.

It also is a own issue of pride for the previous Warriors standout.

“Coming back to the Midwest, that was a huge attract from the get-go when this career opened up,” Henderson explained. “I’ve however acquired the 608 spot code number. I haven’t lived in Wisconsin considering that my large university days, but I’ve in no way ditched that. I system on maintaining that indefinitely. I’m a Midwest dude.”