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Mar. 19—CHAMPAIGN — March is special to Mary Henson. Always has been. Always will be.
The reason? College basketball in general and the NCAA tournament in particular.
For all those years, Mary served as the matriarch of the Illinois men's basketball team alongside the patriarch, her husband, the late, great Lou Henson.
"It is by far my favorite time of the year," Mary said. "There's no question about it.
"I am glued. Thank God that Lou demanded to have this huge television. He scouted and taped every game that came on. He would look at them at 3 o'clock in the morning. He insisted on this huge television. You feel like you're right there in the gym."
Mary, 88 years young, visited with The News-Gazette sportswriters during Monday's "SportsTalk" on WDWS, wowing the St. Patrick's Day crowd at the Esquire Lounge with story after story about the iconic coach and some of his great Illini teams.
Like the time Illinois lost in the first round of the 1987 NCAA tournament to Austin Peay. Illinois had compiled a 23-7 record in the regular season that winter, finished fourth in the bruising Big Ten and received a No. 3 seed.
Coach Henson, so wise when it came to human nature, thought his heavily-favored team might be in trouble against the 14th-seeded Governors.
"When Austin Peay got picked to go against us, Lou said, 'Uh-oh,'" Mary recalled. "They just played Kentucky at Kentucky and almost beat them (before losing 71-69). He said, 'I've got to figure out how I'm going to get these kids to even know they are going against a good team.'"
Coach was right be worried. Especially after one of the Illini missed the Selection Sunday show.
"He came in and said to one of our coaches, 'Who are we playing?'" Mary said. "And our coach said, 'Well, Austin Peay.' The player said, 'No, I mean after that.' He pooh-poohed Austin Peay."
Bad idea. The Governors won 68-67 on Tony Raye's basket in one of the biggest upsets in tournament history that had ESPN broadcaster Dick Vitale standing on his head.
"Lou said after the game, 'You know, it's a shame we got beat by a team whose main chant is, 'Let's go Peay,'" Mary said. "We laughed about that forever. Of course, we cried first and then we laughed."
Those kind of games might help explain why Mary doesn't fill out a bracket ahead of the tournament.
"There's no point," she said. "We never know how it's going to go."
Different time
How would Lou do in today's game driven by name, image and likeness and the transfer portal.
"He would resign," Mary said to laughs from the crowd. "He would not coach now."
Coach Henson believed in two staples. Discipline and defense. Hard to accomplish when you are worried about a mutiny.
"He was one of the greatest defensive coaches in America and nobody even paid any attention to it," Mary said. "But believe it, he was a heckuva defensive coach."
The discipline piece was critical, too.
"If you can't get discipline with your team, forget it," Mary said. "Good things aren't going to happen. Now, you try to discipline a kid and they say, 'Get out of here Coach' and they'll head for the portal. They don't realize what you're doing because they are too young to realize what you're doing.
"I doubt very much that Lou could handle that."
Showing respect
Mary was encouraged to hear that a large portion of high school coaches in the state during a recent piece in The News-Gazette wrote of their admiration for Coach Henson.
"Wow, that's fabulous," she said. "It makes me feel good about the coaches coming up. Lou was one of the top coaches, not just here, but nationally. He was one of the top coaching minds that ever existed as far as I'm concerned."
A math teacher in his earlier years, Coach Henson always wanted to know the numbers. In games and practices, charting everything.
"Figures don't lie," Mary said.
Lost legend
Mary talked glowingly about former Illinois great Efrem Winters, who passed away earlier this year. Winters helped spark and keep the turnaround Henson established with the Illini in the early 1980s that continued through the rest of that decade.
"He was such a great guy," Mary said. "I'm talking the heart of the man and his soul. We've been blessed with so many fabulous people because Lou tried to recruit solid people."
Continue reading...
The reason? College basketball in general and the NCAA tournament in particular.
For all those years, Mary served as the matriarch of the Illinois men's basketball team alongside the patriarch, her husband, the late, great Lou Henson.
"It is by far my favorite time of the year," Mary said. "There's no question about it.
"I am glued. Thank God that Lou demanded to have this huge television. He scouted and taped every game that came on. He would look at them at 3 o'clock in the morning. He insisted on this huge television. You feel like you're right there in the gym."
Mary, 88 years young, visited with The News-Gazette sportswriters during Monday's "SportsTalk" on WDWS, wowing the St. Patrick's Day crowd at the Esquire Lounge with story after story about the iconic coach and some of his great Illini teams.
Like the time Illinois lost in the first round of the 1987 NCAA tournament to Austin Peay. Illinois had compiled a 23-7 record in the regular season that winter, finished fourth in the bruising Big Ten and received a No. 3 seed.
Coach Henson, so wise when it came to human nature, thought his heavily-favored team might be in trouble against the 14th-seeded Governors.
"When Austin Peay got picked to go against us, Lou said, 'Uh-oh,'" Mary recalled. "They just played Kentucky at Kentucky and almost beat them (before losing 71-69). He said, 'I've got to figure out how I'm going to get these kids to even know they are going against a good team.'"
Coach was right be worried. Especially after one of the Illini missed the Selection Sunday show.
"He came in and said to one of our coaches, 'Who are we playing?'" Mary said. "And our coach said, 'Well, Austin Peay.' The player said, 'No, I mean after that.' He pooh-poohed Austin Peay."
Bad idea. The Governors won 68-67 on Tony Raye's basket in one of the biggest upsets in tournament history that had ESPN broadcaster Dick Vitale standing on his head.
"Lou said after the game, 'You know, it's a shame we got beat by a team whose main chant is, 'Let's go Peay,'" Mary said. "We laughed about that forever. Of course, we cried first and then we laughed."
Those kind of games might help explain why Mary doesn't fill out a bracket ahead of the tournament.
"There's no point," she said. "We never know how it's going to go."
Different time
How would Lou do in today's game driven by name, image and likeness and the transfer portal.
"He would resign," Mary said to laughs from the crowd. "He would not coach now."
Coach Henson believed in two staples. Discipline and defense. Hard to accomplish when you are worried about a mutiny.
"He was one of the greatest defensive coaches in America and nobody even paid any attention to it," Mary said. "But believe it, he was a heckuva defensive coach."
The discipline piece was critical, too.
"If you can't get discipline with your team, forget it," Mary said. "Good things aren't going to happen. Now, you try to discipline a kid and they say, 'Get out of here Coach' and they'll head for the portal. They don't realize what you're doing because they are too young to realize what you're doing.
"I doubt very much that Lou could handle that."
Showing respect
Mary was encouraged to hear that a large portion of high school coaches in the state during a recent piece in The News-Gazette wrote of their admiration for Coach Henson.
"Wow, that's fabulous," she said. "It makes me feel good about the coaches coming up. Lou was one of the top coaches, not just here, but nationally. He was one of the top coaching minds that ever existed as far as I'm concerned."
A math teacher in his earlier years, Coach Henson always wanted to know the numbers. In games and practices, charting everything.
"Figures don't lie," Mary said.
Lost legend
Mary talked glowingly about former Illinois great Efrem Winters, who passed away earlier this year. Winters helped spark and keep the turnaround Henson established with the Illini in the early 1980s that continued through the rest of that decade.
"He was such a great guy," Mary said. "I'm talking the heart of the man and his soul. We've been blessed with so many fabulous people because Lou tried to recruit solid people."
Continue reading...
