LAS CRUCES, N.M. - Ken Henson, brother of legendary NM State head coach Lou Henson and a former assistant on Lou's staff, passed away Tuesday, April 6, 2021. Ken Henson was 83 years old.

Upon Lou Henson's return to the Aggies' bench for the 1997-98 season, he brought Ken along to serve as an assistant coach. Ken organized practice, helped oversee recruiting and performed general administration of the NM State men's basketball program during his stint in Las Cruces.

Henson, a native of Wagoner, Okla., posted a career record of 167-72 at the three different levels he served as head coach. From 1965-68, he was the head coach at Will Rogers High School in Tulsa, Okla., where he won a pair of Oklahoma Seven Conference titles and was twice honored as the Tulsa Tribune Coach of the Year. The one season he did not win that award, Eddie Sutton was the recipient.

In 1968, Henson moved on to Cisco Junior College for two seasons and inherited a club that had won just eight games in the previous two seasons. Following a 13-13 campaign in 1968-69, Cisco went 30-6 and took first place in the Texas Junior College Athletic Conference while qualifying for the national junior college regional tournament.

Henson became the head coach at Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas, in 1970 and led his squad to a pair of 20-win seasons. He went 22-6 in his debut campaign and won the Lone Star Conference title. In his final year (1973-74), Howard Payne posted an 18-10 record and again emerged as the Lone Star Conference's regular season champions. He was named the NAIA District IV Coach of the Year following the conclusion of the year. His 1972-73 club went 20-8.

Henson also served as Howard Payne's athletic director before leaving to enter private business in 1975. He was also a math teacher in the Breckenridge (Texas) Independent School District from 1975-79. A 1961 graduate of Northeastern State University in Talequah, Okla., Henson also earned a master's degree in mathematics from Southeastern State University (now Southeastern Oklahoma State University) in 1967.

Henson is survived by his wife, Ellen (neé Spriggs) Henson of Yukon, Okla.; two daughters, Lanet (Michael) McShan, of Brownwood, Texas, and Deborah (Clay) Parker, of Breckenridge, Texas; one son, Reverend Keith (Melinda) Henson, of Yukon, Okla.; six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. 

Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m. CT Friday, April 9, 2021, at Yukon Church in Yukon, Okla. The program will be live streamed on www.YukonChurch.org and can be accessed by pressing Sunday Service. 

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