Bill Henry

Who was Bill Henry?

William Gambrell "Bill" Henry was an American professional basketball player. Henry played for one season with the Fort Wayne Pistons in the Basketball Association of America before splitting the following season with the Pistons and Tri-Cities Blackhawks of the National Basketball Association . He recorded career totals of 613 points and 103 assists. Although he played professionally, Henry is better known for his college basketball career at Rice University.

At Rice, Henry played three varsity seasons. A 6 ft 9 in, 215 lb center, Henry was twice selected as a consensus NCAA All-American, once in 1944 and again in 1945. As a senior in 1944–45, he led the Owls to an undefeated Southwest Conference season and only lost one game all season. He scored 280 points in 12 conference games that year, good for a 23.3 points per game average. He was also one of the biggest players in the league and led Rice to Southwest Conference first-place finishes all three years he played for them. In his sophomore season of 1942–43, Rice qualified for the National Invitation Tournament, which at the time was as popular and respected as the modern day NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament.