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.

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
19481950Fort 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

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 32.320.6161.79.9
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. "Bill Henry". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2010. Retrieved October 1, 2010.
  2. 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. "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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