An examination of an influential career and game changing human being
By: Rhys Owens, Staff Writer at WMUL, 11/4/24
The man whose name graces the basketball stadium at Marshall University is one of the greats of the game. More importantly he is a legend of West Virginia. Henderson brought high level basketball and football to colleges 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 football and basketball at Muskingum College in New Concord, OH. He spent only three years with the Fighting Muskies before becoming the coach of the basketball team at Davis & Elkins College in Elkins, W.Va.
At Davis & Elkins Henderson coached the first ever undefeated collegiate basketball team in West Virginia history in the 1924-25 season. He also took on duties as the school’s head football coach, leading Davis & Elkins to their first ever state collegiate football title in 1928, and a West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) title in 1933.
After bringing Davis & Elkins to athletic prominence in the state, Henderson moved on to greener pastures taking a job as athletic director at Marshal University. Additionally, he took on the job of coaching the football and basketball teams. Under the tutelage of Henderson, Marshall football won 68 games along with a single Buckeye Conference title.
Henderson truly made his mark on the hardwood creating a legacy at Marshall that will likely never be touched. Basketball teams under his guidance won 368 games in the process winning 35 straight home games from 1944-1947. During the 1946-47 season, Marshall basketball did something unmatched in the program’s history going 32-5, eventually taking home the NAIA (then NAIB) National Championship.
During his coaching career, Cam Henderson amassed a 785-325 record in football and basketball, while compiling a 6-3 record during his brief time coaching Marshall’s baseball team.
Henderson helped to break the color barrier in Huntington when he recruited Hal Greer to play at Marshall. Greer became the first African American to play basketball at the university. Greer helped the team win the Mid-American Conference (MAC) title in the 1955-56 season cementing himself in the history of Huntington.
Eli Camden Henderson is a West Virginia college legend. He helped shape the game today by innovating the “fast break offense” while putting Marshall on the map. He still holds one of only four national titles in school history.
This man changed the game itself, but more importantly, changed collegiate sports in West Virginia. As a proud native of the state Cam Henderson created a culture of arduous work, winning, and integrity similar to that of the people living in the Jewel City.
Henderson is forever enshrined in the annals of Huntington history shaping the game and our state’s love for sports. If you wish to learn more about the collegiate legend you can visit herdzone.com or the West Virginia online encyclopedia where you’ll find bios on Henderson befitting his status as an all-time great.