Cam Henderson (1984) - Marshall Athletics Hall of Fame

Cam Henderson

Induction:
1984

Not only did Eli Camden “Cam” Henderson lead the Marshall athletic program to some of its greatest moments, the Joe, W.Va., native would go down in history as one of basketball’s great innovators. A graduate of Glenville State College, Henderson became a high school teacher and coach and then coached football and basketball at Muskingum College and Davis & Elkins College before taking the job as Marshall’s athletic director and head football and basketball coach in 1935. Henderson immediately reversed the fortunes of some struggling teams as he led the basketball team to a Buckeye Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship – the first of three in a row – in his second season and the football team to the Buckeye crown in Year 3. Henderson quickly recruited some of the greatest athletes ever to wear the Green and White, including basketball All-American Jule Rivlin, College Football Hall of Fame back Jackie Hunt and Andy Tonkovich, who would become the first overall selection in the second NBA Draft.

At Marshall, Henderson perfected the zone defense that he originally devised to help his players compete on a slippery floor when he was the coach for the high school team in Bristol, W.Va., and also his frenetic “quick break” attack on offense. Among Henderson’s career highlights were in leading the 1946-47 Marshall basketball team to the NAIB National Championship and then that following fall guiding the Marshall football team to a 9-2 regular season record and the school’s first bowl game, the New Year’s Day Tangerine Bowl in Orlando, Fla.

Henderson also blazed the trail in integrating college athletics in West Virginia when he signed Hal Greer out of Huntington’s Douglass High School to play for the Thundering Herd. No lesser authorities than legends like Clair Bee and John Wooden described Henderson as one of the greatest innovators the sport of basketball ever knew. Bee, one of the greatest coaches and a prolific author, wrote the book Zone Defense and Attack in 1942, and the first photo in the book is of Henderson. Wooden, whose Indiana State teams dropped two of three meetings against Marshall before he moved on to UCLA, called Henderson one of the game’s great influences. Henderson’s teams also introduced a warm up weave routine to entertain the crowd before games that was later adopted by the Harlem Globetrotters.

By the time his career was complete, Henderson had compiled a basketball record of 631-242 on the collegiate level, including a mark of 362-159 in 20 seasons at Marshall. His football record was 163-91-13, including 68-46-5 mark in 12 Marshall seasons. He also stepped in to coach the Marshall baseball team for one season, a 6-3 campaign in 1938.

Marshall not only plays basketball today in an arena named for Henderson, but the Cam Henderson Award is presented annually to the school’s premier student-athlete. Henderson was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame in 1952, the West Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 1955, the Davis & Elkins College Hall of Fame in 1975 and the Glenville State College Hall of Fame in 2001. He was inducted into the Marshall Athletic Hall of Fame in 1984.