Bill Henry (basketball)
William Gambrell Henry (December 27, 1924 – January 1, 1985) was an American professional basketball player.[1] Henry played for one season with the Fort Wayne Pistons (1948–49) in the Basketball Association of America (BAA) before splitting the following season with the Pistons and Tri-Cities Blackhawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He recorded career totals of 613 points and 103 assists.[1] Although he played professionally, Henry is better known for his college basketball career at Rice University.
 Henry in his senior year at Rice. | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 27, 1924 Dallas, Texas |
| Died | January 1, 1985 (aged 60) |
| Listed height | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) |
| Listed weight | 215 lb (98 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Highland Park (University Park, Texas) |
| College | Rice (1942–1945) |
| Playing career | 1947–1950 |
| Position | Center |
| Number | 30, 16, 20 |
| Career history | |
| 1947–1948 | Houston Mavericks |
| 1948–1950 | Fort Wayne Pistons |
| 1950 | Tri-Cities Blackhawks |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Career NBA statistics | |
| Points | 613 |
| Rebounds | Not tracked |
| Assists | 103 |
| Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
At Rice, Henry played three varsity seasons (1942–43 to 1944–45).[2] A 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m), 215 lb center,[1] Henry was twice selected as a consensus NCAA All-American, once in 1944 and again in 1945. As a senior in 1944–45, he led the Owls to an undefeated Southwest Conference season and only lost one game all season.[2] He scored 280 points in 12 conference games that year, good for a 23.3 points per game average.[3] 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.[2][3] 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 Men's Division I Basketball Tournament.[2] 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.[2] He was also inducted into the school's athletic hall of fame as part of the 1970 class.[4]
Bill Henry died five days after his 60th birthday.
BAA/NBA career statistics
| Legend | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Games played | FG% | Field-goal percentage | ||
| FT% | Free-throw percentage | APG | Assists per game | ||
| PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high | ||
Regular season
| Year | Team | GP | FG% | FT% | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1948–49 | Fort Wayne | 32 | .320 | .616 | 1.7 | 9.9 |
| 1949–50 | Fort Wayne | 44 | .311 | .672 | .9 | 4.9 |
| 1949–50 | Tri-Cities | 19 | .348 | .667 | .5 | 4.3 |
| Career | 95 | .320 | .641 | 1.1 | 6.5 | |
Playoffs
| Year | Team | GP | FG% | FT% | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | Tri-Cities | 3 | .118 | .556 | 1.7 | 3.0 |
| Career | 3 | .118 | .556 | 1.7 | 3.0 | |
References
- "Bill Henry". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2010. Retrieved October 1, 2010.
- ESPN Editors (2009). ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. New York, NY: Random House, Inc. p. 129. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
- "Professional Basketball League of America 1947–48". apbr.org. The Association for Professional Basketball Research. 2010. Archived from the original on 17 September 2010. Retrieved October 1, 2010.
- "Rice Athletic Hall of Fame". RiceOwls.com. CBS Interactive. 2010. Archived from the original on 30 September 2010. Retrieved October 1, 2010.