Henderson appointed the basketball coach in Drake

Eric Henderson was appointed head coach of the Male Basketball Program at Drake University, director of athletics Brian Hardin Announced on Friday. Henderson is the 31st head coach in the history of the Bulldogs.

“My family and I are delighted to join Drake Nation,” said Henderson. “At the start of this process, it became clear that values ​​and vision aligned with the incredible president of President Martin and Brian Hardin have already established. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity they have given me, as well as my family, to guide this path with them. The excitement for Drake Basketball is at a record level, and I can’t wait to establish relationships and represent a university and a base of fans so committed. Go Bulldogs!

Originally from Coggon, Iowa and a graduate of the Maquoketa Valley high school, Henderson comes to monks after having passed the previous six seasons as a jackrabbits from the state of southern Dakota. Previously, he spent three years as an assistant to the state of southern Dakota, reaching the associated head coach for the 2018-2019 campaign. During his mandate in Brookings, Henderson guided the jackrabbits to a lot of success and displayed a global record of 129-60 and a bar of 76-20 in the Summit League. The Henderson teams have never finished worse than third in the ranking of the Summit League and won at least a part of the title of the regular season of the Summit League in four seasons and won two titles of conference tournament on the road to a pair of appearances at the NCAA tournament.

“Eric quickly established himself in a talented candidates like the best person to direct our male basketball program,” said Hardin. “He raised the state of southern Dakota not only to the leading program of the Summit League, but also one of the best programs at our level in the country. Beyond basketball, however, Eric is an educator at heart and his development of young men in his program is consistent with our vision of Drake head coaches. We are delighted to welcome Eric, Alicia, Kooper, Kort, McKinley and Kyler to Drake Athlem.

During the 2023-24 season, Henderson led SDSU to a scanning of the regular season titles and the summit league conference tournament. The jackrabbits also boasted of several players with individual honors in the Summit League which included Zeke Mayo (player of the year), William Kyle III (defensive player of the year) and Charlie Easley (fully defensive team).

The previous projection of the Jackrabbits NCAA tournament occurred during an unprecedented campaign 2021-22. The 2021-222 season was the ceiling of what had been built by Henderson and its coache staff during his mandate. The jackrabbits went 30-5 in total and 18-0 in the Summit League game. The undefeated conference record was a first in the history of the League, while SDSU became the first team of the Summit League to win 30 victories in one season. The Jacks organized the longest sequence of active victories in the country for part of the regular season and finally reached 21 consecutive victories after the 2022 Summit League championship match, the program being undefeated from December 15 to March 17. SDSU received votes in the survey of the first 25 partners during the regular season for the second time in the history of the program.

Henderson was appointed coach of the Summit League year and was selected by his peers as coach of the NABC District 12. His team finished several notable statistics during the season while the SDSU led the country as a percentage of goals in the field at 3 points (44.5%) and finished second as a percentage of goals in the field (52.1%) and offense (85.9).

His players have also obtained many distinctions with Baylor Scheierman and Douglas Wilson selected as finalists for Lou Henson Award, awarded to the best male player in mid-menu in the country. Schiderman would receive the price of the player of the conference of the year, Wilson won the honors of the MVP of the League tournament, while Luke Appel (sixth man of the year) and Mayo (team of the newcomer) were also recognized with distinctions from the conference.

SDSU had his first former player selected in the NBA draft during Henderson’s mandate in 2024. Scheierman, who put on the yellow and blue from 2019 to 22 before the transfer to Creighton, was selected with the 30th choice by the title champion of the NBA Boston Celtics. He was the first former Jackrabbits player to be written since Nate Wolters in 2013.

“It is with great enthusiasm for the future of our male basketball program that I greet coach Henderson and his family at Drake University,” said Drake University President Martin. “The achievements of coach Henderson on the court were really impressive, and his approach in principle of leadership is a proven bulldog – creating student -athletes who thrive in class, competition and community service.”

The first season of Henderson in 2019-20 as a college trainer was historic because he was appointed coach of the Summit League year while guiding the Jackrabbits to a record of 22-10 and a part of their regular seasonal title of the third League of the Summit. Henderson resulted in three artists from all over the league, including the league player (Douglas Wilson) and the first year (Noah Freidel) of the year. SDSU went 16-0 at home in 2019-2020 and posted a 13-3 file in the league.

Under the direction of Henderson, the state of southern Dakota had one of the best advantages of the land in the country in the country. SDSU went 72-7 to Frost Arena during Henderson’s mandate as a head coach while the percentage of 0.925 victories in the BrooKings program since the 2015-16 season is ranked third in all male basketball in division I behind Kansas and Gonzaga.

Henderson began her coaches career as an assistant to Wayne State (Neb.) From 2001 to 2003 and returned to college ranks as an assistant in the state of Dakota from North from 2014 to 2016 after training in the Wisconsin preparation ranks.

A graduate of Wayne State in 2000 (Neb.), Henderson began his career as collegiate coaches to his Alma Mater from 2001 to 2003 as an assistant coach. After training basketball for girls at the Wayne Community School for two seasons, he moved to the state of Iowa, where he was a graduate director of the male basketball team of cyclones from 2006 to 2008 and learning specialist for the 2008-09 season. He returned to training in the preparation ranks of the Catholic Central Burlington secondary school in Burlington, Wisconsin, from 2009 to 14, while also serving passengers as director of and sports.

He and his wife, Alicia, are proud parents of four children, son Kooper, Kort and Kyler and his daughter McKinley.

https://godrakebulldogs.com/news/2025/3/28/eric-henderson-damed-drake-mens-basketball-coach.aspx