KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – When he arrived at Illinois in 1975, the first thing Lou Henson did was preach patience.
The new coach wanted to build the Fighting Illini into a national contender, but he wanted to do it with in-state prospects, even if it’d take a while. So that first year, Henson and his young assistants met with more than 400 high school coaches, building relationships for the future.
It took five years before they paid off, and even then it was a trip to the NIT. It wasn’t until 1981 that Henson finally took his team to the NCAA tournament. But with the foundation laid, Henson would take them to 11 more tournaments and a Final Four appearance in 1989, along the way becoming one of the most respected tacticians in the college game.
On Tuesday, he learned he was headed for the College Basketball Hall of Fame.
Henson will be joined in this year’s class by fellow coaches Don Donoher of Dayton and C. Felton “Zip” Gayles of Langston, and five players: Ohio State All-American John Havlicek, Indiana standout Quinn Buckner, Kansas State star Rolando Blackman, North Carolina trailblazer Charlie Scott and Long Beach State star Ed Ratleff.