William Gambrell Henry (December 27, 1924 – January 1, 1985) was an American professional

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 ...

player. Henry played for one season with the

Fort Wayne Pistons A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

(1948–49) in the Basketball Association of America (BAA) before splitting the following season with the Pistons and

Tri-Cities Blackhawks Tri-Cities most often refers to: *Tri-Cities, Tennessee, United States *Tri-Cities, Washington, United States Tri-City, Tricity or Tri-Cities may also refer to: Populated places Americas Canada *Tri-Cities (British Columbia), consisting of Co ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

(NBA). He recorded career totals of 613 points and 103 assists. Although he played professionally, Henry is better known for his college basketball career at

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a private research university in Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranked among the top universities ...

. At

Rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

, Henry played three varsity seasons (

1942 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in w ...

– 45). A , 215 lb

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

, Henry was twice selected as a consensus NCAA All-American, once in

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...

and again in

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which Nuclear weapon, nuclear weapons Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, have been used in combat. Events Below, ...

. As a senior in 1944–45, he led the Owls to an undefeated

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma ...

season and only lost one game all season. He scored 280 points in 12 conference games that year, good for a 23.3 points per game average. He was also one of the biggest players in the league and led Rice to Southwest Conference first-place finishes all three years he played for them. In his sophomore season of 1942–43, Rice qualified for the National Invitation Tournament (NIT), which at the time was as popular and respected as the modern day NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. Rice would lose to the eventual tournament champion St. John's, 51–49, in the first round. Henry was listed as Rice University's all-time greatest men's basketball player in the 2009 book ''ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game''. He was also inducted into the school's athletic hall of fame as part of the 1970 class. Bill Henry died five days after his 60th birthday.

BAA/NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henry, Bill 1924 births 1985 deaths All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Dallas Centers (basketball) Fort Wayne Pistons players Place of death missing Professional Basketball League of America players Rice Owls men's basketball players Tri-Cities Blackhawks players