Steve Henson moves on

[Hawksman]

USF Names Steve Henson Assistant Coach

TAMPA (May 29, 2003) — Steve Henson, a six-season NBA veteran who spent the just-completed season on the Atlanta Hawks coaching staff, was named acting assistant basketball coach at the University of South Florida today by head men’s coach Robert McCullum. He will begin his duties Monday.

"We are extremely elated to have Steve join our staff," said McCullum. "I know the type of player Steve was and I know how he approached the game as a player and as a coach in terms of hard work, sacrifice and, above all, preparation.

Henson, 35, was on Lon Kruger’s — and then Terry Stotts’s — Atlanta staff in this season after a year as a Hawks advance scout. He was an assistant at the University of Illinois in 1999-00.

"I am certainly very excited about this opportunity," said Henson. "There are a lot of positives about the situation at South Florida. My relationship with Coach McCullum, we’ve known each other 14 years, had a lot to do with me making this decision. I have great deal of respect for him. I played for him a season at K-State and then worked with him at Illinois."

McCullum was a member of the Kansas State coaching staff for Henson’s final season in 1989-90 and the two worked together on the coaching staff at the University of Illinois in 1999-00. It was in Gainseville where the two became best-acquainted, however.

"His first few years in the NBA he wanted to find a place where he could train and work out so he made Gainesville his off-season home and that was the period of time where I really was able to get to know Steve," said McCullum who was an assistant at Florida from the early-to-mid-1990s. "I also worked on the at Illinois with Steve in 1999-00. Since we worked together at Illinois, Steve has been a part of the Atlanta Hawks organization and really picked up some valuable experience at that level."

A four-year starter at Kansas State University from 1987 though 1990, Henson was a two-time honorable mention All-American and earned All-Big Eight Conference honors as a junior and a senior. The point guard is the only player in K-State history to play in four NCAA Tournaments and led the Wildcats to the 1988 Elite Eight. He also led K-State in scoring in 1989 with 18.5 points-per-game, a year after leading the nation in free throw shooting percentage, connecting on 92 percent (92-of-100) of his attempts.

Henson holds K-State career records for assists (582), three-point field goals made (240 in 537 attempts), games played (127), starts (118) and minutes played (1,243). He is No. 2 on the school’s career three-point field goal perecntage list (44.7 perecent), No. 5 on the career scoring list (1,655 points) and No. 5 on the career field goals made list (527). He was named to K-State’s All-Century Team selected in February.

Henson was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks in the second round of the 1990 draft and was the 44th overall selection. He spent six seasons in the NBA with Milwaukee, Atlanta, Charlotte, Portland and Detroit. He also played three seasons in the Italian and Greek leagues.

"He is extremely knowledgeable about the game of basketball and he is an outstanding teacher," said McCullum. "Our entire team, especially our guards, will benefit greatly from Steve’s knowledge and experience from his days as a player in college and in the NBA. He was a terrific shooter. He was tough, he exhibited a great deal of leadership as a player and had the ability to make boig shots under pressure. He has an outstanding offensive mind."

On-the-floor coaching will be the area that McCullum feels like Henson will have the greatest impact at USF. "One of the areas that our staff will pride itself on, an area we feel will really push our program forward, is in the area of player development," said McCullum. "Once you get players on board, you have to have players reach their fullest potential and I think that may be the epitome of how a coach is graded. Then we want to put those players on the court and in a position in which they can be successful. That’s where we as a staff want to leave our stamp and Steve is going to be a big part of our staff being successful in those areas."

McCullum was named head coach at USF on April 18 after three seasons at Western Michigan University. Henson joins a staff that also includes assistant coach Tommy Deffebaugh and acting director of basketball operations Scott Thompson.

[KB21]

The Summer League starts July 14th, and we've got an interim head coach whose future is in the air and one assistant coach. Not only that, but the sale of the team likely won't be completed by then, so any hiring of assistants will be put on hold.

Chances are, Dominique Wilkins and Harold Ellis will get their feet wet as coaches during the Summer League.