| Bill Henderson | |
| Birth Date: | 1901 |
| Death Date: | July 5, 1979 (aged 78) |
| Coach Years1: | 1941–1943 |
| Coach Team1: | Baylor |
| Coach Years2: | 1945–1961 |
| Coach Team2: | Baylor |
| Admin Years1: | 1968–1971 |
| Admin Team1: | Baylor |
| Overall Record: | 201–233 |
| Tournament Record: | 3–5 (NCAA) |
| Championships: | 4 SWC regular season (1946, 1948–1950) |
R. E. "Bill" Henderson (1901 – July 5, 1979) was an American basketball coach. He was the head basketball coach at Baylor University from 1941 to 1943, and from 1945 to 1961. In his 18 seasons at Baylor, Henderson had a win–loss record of 201–233, and his teams made three NCAA tournament appearances.[1]
Prior to becoming a college head coach, Henderson coached the Temple High School boys' basketball team, which reached the 1928 state championship game. Although Henderson's Temple team lost to Austin High School in the title game, it was eventually awarded the championship because an ineligible player had been on Austin's roster.[2] In Henderson's first two seasons in charge of Baylor, the team finished with records of 11–9 and 6–14. After his two-season break, he guided the team to a 25–5 record, Southwest Conference championship, and NCAA tournament berth in 1945–46.[1] In the 1948 NCAA tournament, the Bears reached the title game, rallying from sizable deficits against Washington and Kansas State along the way. Baylor faced Kentucky for the national championship, losing 58–42.[3] It was the first time a Southwest Conference team had advanced to the championship game in an NCAA Tournament.[4]
Henderson's team reached the Final Four of the 1950 NCAA tournament, losing to Bradley 68–66.[5] The Bears did not return to the NCAA Tournament during Henderson's coaching tenure. The 1950 Final Four team only finished one game above .500 overall, and after that season he only notched two more winning records overall. The Bears declined to 4–20 in his final season, 1960–61.[1] After the season, he announced his resignation.[6] Henderson's total of 201 wins was a Baylor men's basketball record until current coach Scott Drew passed him in 2014. His 233 losses remains a school record.[7] [8]
Henderson has been noted for barring his players from smoking, drinking, and swearing,[5] and for what author Allan Zullo called his "nervous habit of tying and untying his shoes at critical points in a game so he wouldn't have to watch a play unfold."[9] From 1968 to 1971, Henderson served as Baylor's athletic director.[10] The Texas Sports Hall of Fame inducted him in 1976.[4] On July 5, 1979, Henderson died at the age of 78.[11]