Men's Basketball: Maintaining the Tiger legacy

Mitch Henderson ’98 is the centerpiece of a photograph that has been a key part of the identity of Princeton basketball for the last 15 years. Taken immediately after the final buzzer sounded on the Tigers’ 43-41 victory over defending national champion UCLA in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the photograph shows a disappointed Bruin Toby Bailey on the left, a shocked Sydney Johnson ’97 on the right and a leaping Henderson, arms stretched high in the air, in between.

At a time when the 2011-12 Tigers (3-5 overall) are struggling to find their own identity, the icon from the past has stepped up for the job.

“We’re still figuring out a little bit, unfortunately, who we’re going to be,” Henderson, who was appointed head coach in April, said.

Though a new coach inherently means change for a team, since being appointed head coach in April, Henderson has brought as much continuity as can be expected. The fourth consecutive head coach who wore the Princeton uniform while playing for Hall of Famer Pete Carril, Henderson was a teammate of both former head coach Johnson and assistant coach Brian Earl ’99.

“The guys were close with Coach Johnson, but we’re not too far away,” Earl said of the team’s transition. “The three of us played together, and we talk all the time. While it’s a new staff, it’s not too far from what Princeton has done over the last 30 years.”

Before current Georgetown head coach John Thompson III ’88 began the current string of alumni coaches, Bill Carmody succeeded Carril — for whom he had served as assistant coach for 14 years — at the helm. While teams have had to adjust to each coach’s distinct personality and style, the underlying tradition and background of the head coaches have remained remarkably constant.

“[Henderson and Johnson] are two Princeton guys, and, being a Princeton guy, you know what to expect from a Princeton player,” senior guard and co-captain Doug Davis said of the transition. “He wants 110 percent from his players; that aspect is the same.”

Drafted by the New York Yankees out of high school, Henderson chose to play college basketball instead, and he led the Tigers to three consecutive Ivy League titles. After graduating, he attended training camp with the Atlanta Hawks, played professionally in Ireland and worked in finance before taking up coaching.

Henderson developed his own distinct leadership style at Northwestern, where he worked as an assistant coach to Carmody, who has been the Wildcats’ head coach ever since leaving Princeton at the end of the 1999-2000 season. A four-year starting point guard himself, Henderson worked mainly with guards while at Northwestern and helped 2009 graduate Craig Moore make the fourth-most three-pointers in Big Ten history.

But he is joining a Tigers team that, aside from Davis, features few regularly playing guards on the offensive end. Since Davis is one of the team’s top scoring threats along with junior forward Ian Hummer, one of Henderson’s main challenges so far has been to find a reliable guard to bring the ball down the court and run plays.

“Doug’s got to score for us, and he’s got to play double duty sometimes,” Henderson said, noting that he sees potential for the role in sophomore guard T.J. Bray, who had six assists and just one turnover in 30 minutes in Princeton’s 66-42 victory over Western Alabama on Sunday, numbers Henderson said he is very pleased with.

“We can play bigger, and that makes us a good defensive team, but at the same time, we’ve struggled a little bit against some pressure,” Henderson said.

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Johnson had made adjustments to the traditional “Princeton Offense” perfected by Carril and emphasized by Carmody and Henderson at Northwestern, since players like Davis and Hummer are so skilled at driving and going one-on-one. Henderson said that he respects the offensive success the Tigers had last year and plans the offense around the individual players rather than a set idea of what the offense should look like.

According to Earl, Henderson has focused a bit more on offense overall than Johnson did. As the link between the two staffs, Earl has been taking a larger role in giving Henderson defensive input consistent with Johnson’s philosophy.

Due to his energy, youth and willingness to get on the court during practice scrimmages, Henderson became known at Northwestern as somewhat of a “player-coach.” However, he noted that a different sort of involvement is necessary in his new role as head coach.

“You make more of the decisions and less of the suggestions,” Henderson said. “You’ve got to be a leader, but you also need to relate well with the players. They’ve got to trust you on and off the court, and I’m still building relationships with these guys. As we get to know each other, I think we’re going to have more success.”

But the investments he made in individual players as an assistant at Northwestern has indeed carried over to his approach at Princeton, players said.

“He takes a very individualistic approach,” Hummer said. “He concentrates on each player specifically, tells each player what he could do better and what he does well.”

“Coach J. was more about the whole,” Hummer added. “He concentrated a lot on the team. Coach Henderson does that as well, but he relates it back to each player.”

Davis — citing Henderson’s intensity and the fact that he demands the same effort from and pays equal attention to each player, no matter how many minutes they see — described Henderson as a perfectionist, words Carmody echoed in a 2009 profile on Henderson in The Daily Northwestern.

“That’s going to benefit our program in the long run,” Davis said.