Henderson sat next to Director of Athletics Gary Walters ’67 in the Princeton Stadium press box while dozens of members and friends of the athletics department watched the ceremony. Walters and Henderson gave opening statements before the new coach answered questions from the media.
“Introducing Mitch to the Princeton basketball nation is an unnecessary exercise,” said Walters, who took over as the director of athletics in the same year that Henderson matriculated as an undergraduate. “Everyone knows the central role in the mid-’90s that Mitch played on some of the best teams that have worn the Princeton basketball uniform.”
A four-year starter at point guard for the Tigers and a member of three Ivy League championship teams, Henderson spent the past 11 seasons as an assistant coach at Northwestern University under his former head coach at Princeton, Bill Carmody. His hiring was announced in a release from the Department of Athletics around noon Wednesday.
“I met with the team last night for the first time, and we had workouts this morning, and it’s a great group,” Henderson said. “They’re excited, I’m excited and I’m eager to get to know them and anxious to see where we’re going to go together.”
A common theme of the day was recruiting, as Walters and Henderson both talked about the new coach’s ability to attract players to Princeton.
“I’m eager to hit the recruiting trail hard, and I’m ready to start working on our 2012 class,” Henderson said.
Henderson is the latest in a series of head coaches with Tiger blood. The previous three coaches — John Thompson ’88, Joe Scott ’87 and Johnson — were also all Princeton alumni.
“This is a special place,” Henderson said. “I know the message here, I know what the University means, and to get a commitment from the University to the athletic program and the basketball program the way Princeton does, I know how rare that is.”
None of the previous four head coaches have stayed at Princeton for more than four years since legendary head coach Pete Carril retired in 1996. But Henderson said that, at this point, he cannot imagine leaving.
“If I could be lucky enough to be here as long as coach Carril was here, 29 years, sign me up.”
Henderson was one of many candidates who applied for the head coaching position four years ago, but he was turned down in favor of Johnson. He said he felt that he was a better candidate this time around.
“I’m thankful for the four years that I’ve had to develop as a coach, and I feel that I’m even more ready today than I’ve ever been,” he said. “On the court, you think you’re ready, but it’s the stuff off the court that’s most important, particularly with recruiting.”
Henderson said that he got an interview for the position four years ago. “I did a little better this time,” he added as the audience laughed.
As a player at Princeton and a coach at Northwestern, Henderson worked with Carmody, who is known as a strict disciple of the traditional “Princeton Offense.” Carmody’s team recorded assists at an extremely high rate, which is a trademark of the system; the Wildcats ranked in the top two nationally in assisted field goal percentage for eight consecutive years before falling to fifth in 2011. Johnson, on the other hand, ran a more open offensive system in the last four seasons; his Tigers were only slightly above the national average in that category.
The purest versions of the Princeton offense can undoubtedly be effective — Northwestern ranked 24th nationally in points per possession last season — but would require some adjustments for a team that features talented one-on-one scorers such as junior guard Doug Davis and sophomore forward Ian Hummer.
Henderson, however, did not commit himself to any particular offensive strategy.
“We’ve got a great group of guys who know how to win, and I want them to be comfortable,” he said.
“Our style [of play] is less important to me than the way we’re going to go about our business.”
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