Bill Henry
Henry in his senior year at Rice.
Personal information
Born(1924-12-27)December 27, 1924
Dallas, Texas
DiedJanuary 1, 1985(1985-01-01) (aged 60)
Listed height6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight215 lb (98 kg)
Career information
High schoolHighland Park
(University Park, Texas)
CollegeRice (1942–1945)
Playing career1947–1950
PositionCenter
Number30, 16, 20
Career history
1947–1948Houston Mavericks
1948–1950Fort Wayne Pistons
1950Tri-Cities Blackhawks
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points613
ReboundsNot tracked
Assists103
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

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.

At Rice, Henry played three varsity seasons (1942–45).[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 Division I men's 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 32.320.6161.79.9
1949–50 Fort Wayne 44.311.672.94.9
1949–50 Tri-Cities 19.348.667.54.3
Career 95.320.6411.16.5

Playoffs

Year Team GP FG% FT% APG PPG
1950 Tri-Cities 3.118.5561.73.0
Career 3.118.5561.73.0

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Bill Henry". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2010. Retrieved October 1, 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 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.
  3. 1 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.
  4. ↑ "Rice Athletic Hall of Fame". RiceOwls.com. CBS Interactive. 2010. Archived from the original on 30 September 2010. Retrieved October 1, 2010.
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