Skip Henderson
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 27, 1965 |
| Nationality | American |
| Listed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
| Listed weight | 175 lb (79 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Cartersville (Cartersville, Georgia) |
| College | Marshall (1984–1988) |
| NBA draft | 1988: undrafted |
| Position | Point guard |
| Career highlights | |
| |
James Woodrow "Skip" Henderson Jr. (born September 27, 1965) is an American former basketball player known for his collegiate career at Marshall University between 1984–85 and 1987–88. Henderson, a 6'2" point guard, established himself as one of the premier players to ever play in the Southern Conference (SoCon), amassing a conference-record 2,574 points (eventually broken by Davidson's Stephen Curry 21 years later); this total is second on Marshall's all-time record behind Jon Elmore's 2,636 points. Henderson was a four-time first-team All-SoCon selection, and as a senior in 1987–88 he was named the SoCon Player of the Year.
Henderson grew up in Cartersville, Georgia at a time when that town had "very little crime and very little drugs," according to Bobby Carr, his basketball coach at Cartersville High School.[1] He described Henderson as an "All-American kid" who was voted as Mr. Cartersville High School by his peers.[1] In high school, Henderson played quarterback for the football team, point guard for the basketball team and also played baseball in the spring.[1]
Marshall University
Henderson enrolled at Marshall University, then a member of NCAA Division I's Southern Conference, in the fall of 1984 to play for the Thundering Herd men's basketball team.[2] On the court, Henderson was one of the best players in the league for the duration of his four-year career. He led Marshall to three postseason tournaments: the 1985 and 1987 NCAA Tournaments as well as the 1988 National Invitation Tournament (NIT).[1] The Thundering Herd were twice SoCon regular season champions (1986–87 and 1987–88) and twice SoCon tournament champions (1984–85 and 1986–87).[2] Henderson led the team in points per game in each of his four seasons, and in his final three seasons he also led them in steals.[2] During his sophomore season in 1985–86, he was Marshall's team leader in assists.[2] He rewrote the school record books, among them is the still-standing records for points in a game (55).[2] His career total stood for 21 years as the SoCon mark until Stephen Curry broke it in 2008–09.[1] Additionally, his 55-point game was played in the quarterfinals of the 1988 Southern Conference tournament against The Citadel.[3] This set both the Marshall and conference tournament records simultaneously.[3] He was named the SoCon Player of the Year as a senior.[2]