Rhys Owens
11-4-24
The man whose name graces Marshall’s basketball stadium is a legend of the game. More importantly, he is a legend of the state. Henderson brought high level basketball to the state of West Virginia, forever shaping the way the game is perceived in the Mountain State.
Henderson began his collegiate coaching career in 1920, when he became the head coach of both football and basketball at Muskingum College in New Concord, Ohio. Henderson spent only 3 years with the Fighting Muskies before becoming the head coach of Davis & Elkins College in Elkins, West Virginia.
At Davis & Elkins, Henderson coached the first ever undefeated collegiate basketball team in West Virginia in the 1924-1925 season. Henderson also took on duties as the school’s head football coach, leading Davis & Elkins to their first ever state collegiate football title in 1928, as well as a WVIAC title in 1933.
After bringing Davis & Elkins to athletic prominence in the state, Henderson would become the athletic director and head coach of both basketball and football at Marshall University. Under the coaching of Henderson, the Marshall football program would win 68 total games along with a single Buckeye Conference title.
Henderson would truly make his mark on the hardwood, creating a legacy at Marshall that will likely never be touched. Basketball teams under his tutelage would win 368 games, in the process winning 35 straight home games from 1944-1947. During the 1946-1947 season, Marshall Basketball would do the unprecedented when they went 32-5, eventually taking home the NAIA (then NAIB) National Championship.
During his coaching career, Cam Henderson would compile a 785-325 record in both football and basketball, while compiling a 6-3 record during his short time coaching Marshall’s baseball team. Henderson would help to break the color barrier in Huntington when he recruited a young Hal Greer to come play at Marshall, becoming the first African American to play at the school. Greer would help the team win the MAC title in the 1955-1956 season.
Eli Cameron Henderson is a West Virginia college legend; he helped shape the game today by innovating the fast break offense. Henderson put Marshall on the map, still holding one of only four national titles in school history. This man changed the game, but more importantly, changed collegiate sports in the state. As a proud native of West Virginia, Cam Henderson created a culture of hard work, winning, and integrity everywhere he went.