Conner Henry (born July 21, 1963) is 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 ...

coach and former player. He played collegiately for the

UC Santa Barbara Gauchos The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos are the intercollegiate athletic teams who represent the University of California, Santa Barbara. Referred to in athletic competition as ''UC Santa Barbara'' or ''UCSB'', the Gauchos participate in 19 NCAA Division I ...

and was selected as the 89th overall pick in the 1986 NBA draft by the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Divisio ...

. Henry had short stints with four

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, 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 i ...

(NBA) teams in two seasons before he embarked on a career in the American minor leagues and overseas. Henry began his coaching career as an assistant at

Claremont McKenna College Claremont McKenna College (CMC) is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It has a curricular emphasis on government, economics, public affairs, finance, and international relations. CMC is a member of the Claremont Colleges c ...

before traveling to Australia to join the coaching staff of the

Perth Wildcats The Perth Wildcats are an Australian professional basketball team based in Perth, Western Australia. The Wildcats compete in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Perth Arena, ...

of the NBL, where he became the head coach for one season in 2008–09. Henry returned to the United States to join the

Los Angeles D-Fenders LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a measure of statistical significanc ...

of the NBA D-League as an assistant coach. Following two seasons with the D-Fenders, he was appointed as head coach of the Fort Wayne Mad Ants in 2013 and named the NBA D-League Coach of the Year after his first season. Henry served as an assistant coach for the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was estab ...

of the NBA in the 2015–16 season. He returned to Australia in 2020 when he was appointed head coach of the Adelaide 36ers.

Playing career

He was a 6'7" (203 cm), 195 lb (89 kg) shooting guard and from 1982 to 1986 played

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 ...

for the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the ...

, where he scored 1,236 points.DREAM JOB - The Conner Henry Interview (page 2)
by Michael D. McClellan on Celtic Nation.com, published May 6, 2004; article retrieved June 7, 2007 He was selected by the

with the 19th pick of the fourth round in the 1986 NBA Draft.Conner Henry Assistant Coach Profile
Official Perth Wildcats website; article retrieved June 7, 2007 Throughout his short NBA career from 1986– 88 he played with the Rockets,

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of ...

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

and

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

. Henry also played for the Rapid City Thrillers and the Yakima Sun Kings of the CBA. In 1990, he was voted as the CBA Player of the Year as well as the CBA All-Star game MVP. Then in 1992 he played in the first CBA All-Star Game held in the Pacific Northwest, of which he was named Most Valuable Player once again after hitting four-of-seven three-pointers, the most made in such an event since 1970. After his NBA career he spent 10 years playing professionally in Italy, Spain, France and Greece before returning to

Montana Montana () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West List of regions of the United States#Census Bureau-designated regions and divisions, division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North ...

, US.Legend for a night - Catching up with Conner Henry
by Jon Goode - published May 2, 2004; article retrieved June 7, 2007

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , align="left" , 1986–87 , align="left" ,

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

, 18 , , 0 , , 5.1 , , .242 , , .091 , , .700 , , 0.4 , , 0.4 , , 0.2 , , 0.0 , , 1.3 , - , align="left" , 1986–87 , align="left" ,

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

, 36 , , 0 , , 6.4 , , .369 , , .387 , , .588 , , 0.8 , , 0.8 , , 0.2 , , 0.0 , , 2.7 , - , align="left" , 1987–88 , align="left" ,

, 10 , , 0 , , 8.1 , , .393 , , .375 , , .900 , , 1.0 , , 1.2 , , 0.1 , , 0.1 , , 3.4 , - , align="left" , 1987–88 , align="left" ,

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

, 14 , , 2 , , 10.4 , , .317 , , .333 , , .571 , , 1.4 , , 2.1 , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 2.3 , - , align="left" , 1987–88 , align="left" ,

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, 15 , , 0 , , 13.8 , , .469 , , .484 , , .867 , , 1.3 , , 1.7 , , 0.5 , , 0.2 , , 7.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 93 , , 2 , , 8.1 , , .378 , , .379 , , .757 , , 0.9 , , 1.1 , , 0.2 , , 0.1 , , 3.3

Playoffs

, - , align="left" , 1986–87 , align="left" ,

, 11 , , 0 , , 3.2 , , .500 , , .200 , , .500 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 2.0

Coaching career

After retiring, he became an assistant coach with Division III's

(where his father worked as a college professorDREAM JOB - The Conner Henry Interview (page 1)
by Michael D. McClellan on Celtic Nation.com, published May 6, 2004; article retrieved June 7, 2007) in his hometown of Claremont, California. He also served as associate director of the career services center, assisting students to gain employment. He remained there for five years until 2006 when he was hired as an assistant coach for the

of the Australian National Basketball League under head coach and former college teammate Scott Fisher. After Fisher left the Wildcats, Henry became coach for the

2008–09 NBL season The 2008–09 NBL season was the 31st season of competition since its establishment in 1979. A total of 10 teams contested the league. 2008–09 league participants * On 30 June 2008 the Brisbane Bullets confirmed they would be handing back th ...

. In 2010, Conner joined the reformed

Sydney Kings The Sydney Kings are an Australian men's professional basketball team competing in the National Basketball League (NBL). The team is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The Kings were formed from a merger between the West Sydney Westars and the ...

of the NBL as an assistant coach with Ian Robilliard. He later became an assistant for the

of the NBA Development League. In October 2013, he was named the head coach of the NBA D-League's Fort Wayne Mad Ants for the 2013–14 season. On April 17, 2014, he was named the winner of the 2014 Dennis Johnson Coach of the Year award. On June 10, 2015, he stepped down as the Mad Ants' head coach and was named the Los Angeles D-Fenders head coach. However, he gave up the position to become, on June 26, assistant coach of the

. Henry worked as a scout for the Minnesota Timberwolves during games at the

Staples Center Crypto.com Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Downtown Los Angeles. Adjacent to the L.A. Live development, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street. The arena opened on October 17, 1999; it ...

from 2017 to 2019. On April 22, 2020, he signed a three-year deal to become the head coach of the Adelaide 36ers of the NBL. On August 26, 2021, the 36ers released Henry from his contract.

Head coaching record

NBA D-League

, - , style="text-align:left;", Fort Wayne , style="text-align:left;", 2013–14 , 50, , 34, , 16, , , , style="text-align:center;", 1st in Eastern, , 6, , 6, , 0, , , , style="text-align:center;", Won NBA D-League Championship , - , style="text-align:left;", Fort Wayne , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , 50, , 28, , 22, , , , style="text-align:center;", 2nd in Central, , 6, , 4, , 2, , , , style="text-align:center;", Lost in NBA D-League Finals , - class="sortbottom" ! align="center" colspan=2, Career ! 100, , 62, , 38, , , , , , 12, , 10, , 2, , , ,

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henry, Conner 1963 births Living people Adelaide 36ers coaches American expatriate basketball people in Australia American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Spain American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Bakersfield Jammers players Basketball coaches from California Basketball players from California BC Andorra players Expatriate basketball people in Andorra American expatriate basketball people in Andorra Boston Celtics players Fort Wayne Mad Ants coaches Houston Rockets draft picks Houston Rockets players Liga ACB players Miami Heat expansion draft picks Milwaukee Bucks players Minnesota Timberwolves scouts National Basketball League (Australia) coaches Orlando Magic assistant coaches People from Claremont, California Peristeri B.C. players Rapid City Thrillers players Sacramento Kings players Shooting guards Sporting basketball players Sportspeople from Los Angeles County, California UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's basketball players Valencia Basket players Yakima Sun Kings players