The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) announced Friday the hiring of Steve Henson as the sixth head men’s basketball coach in program history.
“UTSA basketball represents one of our earliest traditions as a university and, for 35 years, has been an important part of our pursuit of excellence in athletics,” UTSA President Dr. Ricardo Romo said. “Steve Henson shares our passion for a top-tier program that enriches the college experience of our student-athletes and builds pride in our university. He is the ideal person to carry on the UTSA basketball tradition.”
“We are very proud and excited to have Coach Henson as the leader of our men’s basketball program,” Associate Vice President/Director of Athletics Lynn Hickey said. “He brings an outstanding résumé as a collegiate coach along with a great record of achievement as a player at the collegiate and professional levels. Coach Henson is a quality man who has the ability, passion and work ethic to build UTSA into a competitive Conference USA program. We are honored that he is now part of the Roadrunner family.”
“I’m extremely honored, excited and thankful to Dr. Romo and Lynn Hickey for this terrific opportunity to lead the UTSA men’s basketball program,” Henson said. “During my time on campus recently, I had the pleasure of meeting with Dr. Romo, Lynn and many members of the athletics department and I share their vision for this program. I believe that together we can do something special at UTSA and I’m proud to join the Roadrunners family.
“I’d also like to thank everyone at Oklahoma, especially Coach (Lon) Kruger and his family for all of their support over the years. There are many people to whom I’m grateful that have helped me reach this point and I would not be here without each and every one of them. My family and I are looking forward to connecting with the people of UTSA and San Antonio.”
Henson comes to the Alamo City with 15 years of coaching experience — in which his teams have posted a winning record 12 times — most recently as an assistant coach under Lon Kruger at Oklahoma.
“I’m very pleased for Steve and he’ll do a fantastic job,” Kruger said. “His relationship with the players is second to none, his work ethic is unbelievable and he has an interest and ability to get out in the community and represent in a first-class way. Those are all things that you need to do to develop a program. I think he’ll be a great partner for Lynn Hickey. She’s fantastic and those two knowing each other going way back will contribute to them doing terrific things.”
During his five seasons with the Sooners (2011-16), Henson has helped guide the squad to four consecutive 20-win seasons and NCAA Tournament berths, culminating this spring with the program’s fifth appearance in the Final Four and its first since 2002. Oklahoma also saw an increase in its win total in each of the last five campaigns.
Mentoring the Sooners’ guards, Henson was instrumental in the development of two-time Big 12 Conference Player of the Year Buddy Hield, who leads all Power 5 conference players in scoring this season at 25.4 points per game and he ranks second on the Oklahoma and Big 12 all-time scoring list with 2,282 points. Additionally, Hield earned the Oscar Robertson Trophy and he is a finalist for two other National Player of the Year awards, the Jerry West Award (nation’s top shooting guard) and the Senior CLASS Award.
Prior to his time in Norman, Henson spent seven seasons with Kruger at UNLV (2004-11) and he aided the Runnin’ Rebels to a 161-71 (.694) record, six postseason appearances (four NCAA Tournaments) and a pair of Mountain West Conference Tournament titles. UNLV averaged 23 wins per year during his time and following a 30-7 mark and run to the 2007 Sweet 16, Rivals.com recognized Henson as one of the top 25 assistant coaches in the nation.
Henson spent a season as an assistant coach at South Florida (2003-04) following a two-year stint in the NBA as a member of the Atlanta Hawks staff. He served as an advance scout for the 2001-02 campaign and made the move to the bench as an assistant coach for the 2002-03 season.
Henson got his start in coaching under Kruger as an assistant at Illinois (1999-2000) when he helped the Illini to a 22-10 record and an NCAA Tournament berth.
A native of McPherson, Kan., Henson was a four-year starting point guard at Kansas State from 1986-90. He earned All-Big Eight Conference honors as a junior and senior and also was named an honorable mention All-American and team captain during each of his final two seasons. He was the first player in school history to play in four consecutive NCAA Tournaments and as a sophomore in 1987-88, he helped guide the Wildcats to a 25-9 record and a spot in the Elite Eight.
Henson led Kansas State in scoring his final two years by averaging 18.5 points per game as a junior and 17.4 points per game as a senior. He holds three of the top four single-season free throw percentages in school history, including an NCAA-leading .925 mark as a sophomore, while he finished second in the country as a junior (.920).
He still holds all-time program records for assists (582), assists per game (4.58), free-throw percentage (.900), minutes played (4,474), minutes per game (35.2), starts (118), consecutive games played (127) and consecutive starts (118). Henson ranks among the best in school annals in nine other categories, including 3-point field goals (240/2nd), 3-point field goal percentage (.447/2nd), steals (190/2nd), 3-point field goal attempts (537/3rd), free throws (361/4th), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.98/4th), scoring (1,655/6th), games played (127/7th) and field goals (527/7th).
Henson also was a decathlete at Kansas State, placing third as a sophomore and junior at the Big Eight Championships. As a junior at the 1989 league meet, he finished third overall with 6,886 points, winning the javelin and high jump and placing second in the discus, pole vault and 1,500-meter run. Henson was named to the Kansas State All-Century Team that was selected in February 2003 and he was inducted into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame in October 2009. Additionally, he was inducted into the Kansas State Athletics Hall of Fame in October 2013.
After graduating from Kansas State in 1990 with a degree in human movement, he was picked by the Milwaukee Bucks in the second round of the 1990 NBA Draft with the 44th overall selection. Henson played for the Bucks, Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, Portland Trail Blazers and Detroit Pistons during his seven-year NBA career as well as two seasons in Italy with additional stops in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) and Greece for a total of nine professional seasons.
Prior to his time in Manhattan, Kan., Henson was a two-time first-team all-state selection at McPherson High School, where he played for his father, Mike, and he was named Mr. Basketball for the state of Kansas in 1986. In addition, Henson was a Junior Olympic National Champion in both the decathlon and high jump and a Kansas high school state champion in both the javelin and high jump.
