Eli Camden Henderson (February 5, 1890 – May 3, 1956) was an American football,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

, and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at

Muskingum College Muskingum University is a private liberal arts college in New Concord, Ohio. Chartered in 1837 as Muskingum College, the institution is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). Collectively, the university's alumni are referred to as th ...

(1920–1922),

Davis & Elkins College Davis & Elkins College (D&E) is a private college in Elkins, West Virginia. History The school was founded in 1904 and is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church. It was named for Henry G. Davis and his son-in-law Stephen B. Elkins, who wer ...

(1923–1934), and

Marshall University Marshall University is a public research university in Huntington, West Virginia. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States. The university is currently composed of nine colleges: ...

(1935–1949), compiling a career college football record of 164–91–13. Henderson was also the head basketball coach at Muskingum (1920–1923), Davis & Elkins (1923–1935), and Marshall (1935–1955), tallying a career

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

mark of 621–234. As a coach in basketball, he originated the

fast break Fast break is an offensive strategy in basketball and handball. In a fast break, a team attempts to move the ball up court and into scoring position as quickly as possible, so that the defense is outnumbered and does not have time to set up. The ...

and the 2–3 zone defense, hallmarks of the modern game.

Early life and education

Henderson was born in 1890 in the small town of Joetown in

Marion County, West Virginia Marion County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 56,205. Its county seat is Fairmont. The county was named in honor of General Francis Marion (''ca.'' 1732–1795), known to history as "T ...

. He graduated from Glenville State Normal School—now known as

Glenville State University Glenville State University (GSU) is a public college in Glenville, West Virginia. History Glenville State University was founded in 1872 as a branch of West Virginia Normal School. It became known as Glenville State Normal School. It served the ...

–in 1911.

High school coaching career

Henderson began coaching at Shinnston High School in rural West Virginia, then moved to Bristol, West Virginia, where no gymnasium existed on his arrival. Henderson managed to have a gym constructed there, but poorly-cured wood and a leaky roof resulted in a slippery floor. Henderson began to distribute his defenders in "zones" to avoid the slick spots. He then developed an offense of "breaking fast" off a missed basketball, with two forwards tearing down each sideline and a point guard bringing the ball up the court quickly for a number of options. Henderson is credited with the creation of the 2–3 zone defense and the

in basketball.

College coaching career

Henderson moved on to a head coaching position in football and basketball at

in Ohio in 1920, but his greatest glory came during the period of 1923 to 1934 as head basketball and football coach of

in Elkins, West Virginia. Henderson coached the first undefeated (22–0) West Virginia collegiate basketball team (1924–25) at Davis & Elkins and coached the first (proclaimed) D&E state collegiate football championship team in 1928. Henderson's 1933 team won the West Virginia Athletic Conference title. At Davis & Elkins, Henderson had a 220–40 record in basketball and an 81–33–6 record in football. His Davis & Elkins football teams beat much larger schools like West Virginia University, Army, Fordham, Villanova, George Washington and Navy.

Marshall

Henderson assumed a position at Marshall College, now

, in 1935, after Marshall had hired Dr. John Allen from D&E to be President of Marshall. Henderson was hired as athletic director and head coach for basketball and football. Henderson would win 68 football games and one Buckeye Conference title (a 9–0–1 season in 1937). He sent the Thundering Herd to the

1948 Tangerine Bowl The 1948 Tangerine Bowl was an American college football bowl game played after the 1947 season, on January 1, 1948, at the Tangerine Bowl stadium in Orlando, Florida. The game was the second annual Tangerine Bowl, now known as the Citrus Bow ...

and he produced College Football Hall of Fame running back Jackie Hunt, who set the national scoring mark with 27 touchdowns in 1940. His basketball teams won 368 games and won the Buckeye Conference in 1936–37, 1937–38 and 1938–39, the final year for the league. He won 35 straight home games from 1944 to 1947, started the 1946–47 season 17–0, then went on to a 32–5 mark and Marshall's only national championship in basketball in the NAIB (today's NAIA) Basketball Tournament in Kansas City, Missouri. Henderson also sent teams to the 1938 and 1948 tournament. His 1947–48 team won the Helms Foundation's Los Angeles Invitational by defeating Syracuse, 46–44. Henderson's first All-Americans were Bill Smith for football (1937) and Jule Rivlin for basketball (1940). He sent numerous players to the professional ranks, including Frank "Gunner" Gatski (Marshall 1940–42), who is the first of the Herd's two members of the

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coa ...

in Canton, Ohio. Gatski went on to play in 11 title games in 12 seasons with the Cleveland Browns (1946–56) and Detroit Lions (1957), winning four All-American Football Conference and three NFL titles with the Browns and one NFL title with the Lions. Henderson also recruited the first African-American to play at the formerly all-white colleges of West Virginia when he signed

Hal Greer Harold Everett Greer (June 26, 1936 – April 14, 2018) was an American professional basketball player. He played for the Syracuse Nationals / Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1958 through 1973. A guard, Greer ...

from Huntington in 1954. Greer helped Marshall to the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great L ...

(MAC) title in 1955–56, then led the nation in scoring in 1957–58 with 88 points per game. Greer signed with the Syracuse Nationals of the NBA, but went on to greatest glory with the Philadelphia 76ers by winning the title in 1966–67 and becoming a multi-year All-Star and MVP of the 1968 All-Star game. Greer, named as one of the top 50 players in the NBA 50th Anniversary, averaged 19 points per game (1,122 games played), five rebounds and four assists and was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1982. Marshall had three basketball wins over Tennessee and Colorado during Henderson's tenure. They beat the Dayton Flyers 17 times and topped teams like BYU, South Carolina, Cincinnati, Long Island, St. Francis, St. Louis, Loyola, Virginia Tech, Cal, Louisville, Denver, Wichita State, Miami-Florida, City College of New York, Xavier, Indiana State, Maryland, Murray State, Western Kentucky, Kansas State, Creighton, Hawaii, Washington, Idaho, Evansville, Pepperdine, Texas A&M, Memphis (State), Southern Miss and Virginia. Over 20 seasons they had only one losing campaign, going 6–10 in Henderson's first year. His teams won as many as 32 games and they won 20 or more games eight times. He produced the first-ever first round draft pick for the NBA, Andy Tonkovich, and produced All-Americans like Walt Walowac (two-times on Helms Foundation Teams, first in 1953, third in 1954 and scored 1,982 career points). NAIB All-Americans in 1947 and 1948 included Gene James, who played in the NBA, Bill Hall, Bill Toothman, Marvin Gutshall and Tonkovich. Rivlin was on the AP Little All-American team in 1940.

Charlie Slack Charles E. Slack (February 26, 1931 – July 3, 2020) was an American college basketball player from Marshall University. He holds the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I record for the highest single-season rebo ...

set a still-standing NCAA record of 25.4 rebounds per game for Henderson's final team in 1954–55, and finished his career with 1,916 rebounds and 1,551 points in four seasons. Slack and Walowac played for the Goodyear Winged Foots of Akron, Ohio, in national and international AAU contests, and Slack was an alternate for the 1960 Olympic team. After a 6–4 season in 1949, Director of Athletics Luther Poling asked Henderson to resign his football position. Henderson would remain at Marshall as head basketball coach until 1955. His championship basketball team of 1947 spurred the move into the new Cabell County Veteran's Memorial Field House, a 6,500-seat arena that was Marshall's home from 1950 to 1980. His final team in 1954–55 was 18–4, but the MAC prevented Marshall from accepting an invitation to the National Invitational Tournament. Henderson's failing health from diabetes forced him to step down after the season and he would die that summer.

Awards

Marshall has a Cam Henderson Award for the top student-athlete and the building that houses the athletic department and the 9,000-seat Marshall basketball arena are named the Cam Henderson Center. In 2007, Emmy Award-winning producer and director Deborah Novak and John Witek released "Cam Henderson: A Coach's Story" on public television and DVD to great acclaim. The film was honored with a first place Platinum Award at the Worldfest of Film in Houston, Texas. Cam Henderson has been inducted into the Helms Foundation Hall of Fame, the West Virginia Sports Writers Hall of Fame, the D&E Hall of Fame, the Marshall Hall of Fame and the NAIA Hall of Fame.

Death

Henderson died on May 3, 1956, while visiting his daughter in Richmond, Kentucky. He had suffered a heart attack several months before in Huntington and spent several weeks recovering in a hospital there.

Head coaching record

College football

College basketball

College baseball

References

Bibliography

*Books: **''Marshall University 2007–08 Men's Basketball Media Guide'', Huntington, W.Virginia, Chapman Printing, 2007. **''Marshall University 2007 Football Media Guide'', Huntington, W.Virginia, Chapman Printing, 2007. **''The Cam Henderson Story'', Dr. Sam Clagg, Huntington, W.Virginia, Marshall University Press, 1981 **''Sports In West Virginia'', Doug Huff, Donning Company/Publishers, Virginia Beach, Virginia, 1979 **''Marshall University: An Institution Comes Of Age 1837–1980'', Dr. Charles Moffat, Marshall University Alumni Association, 1980 *DVD: **''Cam Henderson: A Coach's Story'', Deborah Novak/John Witek, West Virginia Public Broadcasting, 2007 **''Ashes To Glory'', D. Novak/J. Witek, West Virginia Public Broadcasting, 2000

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Cam 1890 births 1956 deaths Davis & Elkins Senators football coaches Davis & Elkins Senators men's basketball coaches Marshall Thundering Herd athletic directors Marshall Thundering Herd baseball coaches Marshall Thundering Herd football coaches Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball coaches Muskingum Fighting Muskies football coaches Muskingum Fighting Muskies men's basketball coaches High school basketball coaches in West Virginia Glenville State College alumni People from Marion County, West Virginia category:Coaches of American football from West Virginia category:Baseball coaches from West Virginia category:Basketball coaches from West Virginia