David Henderson (basketball)


David McKinley Henderson is a retired American basketball player and coach. At 6'5", 195 lb, he is most notable because of his college career at Duke University, where he was team co-captain on the 1986 team that reached the NCAA Final Four, and lost in the final game to Louisville. Henderson later played in Europe, notably in Israel, France and Turkey, before assuming the assistant-coaching position at his alma mater. In July 2000 he was appointed as the head coach of the University of Delaware men's team. In March 2006 he was fired after concluding a three-season losing span.

College career

After finishing Warren County High School, Henderson enrolled at Duke, where he played for four successful years, under Mike Krzyzewski's coaching. He was the starting shooting guard in his first year, moved to the bench as the sixth man the following two seasons, and finally finished his college career starting in all 39 games as a senior, and, as co-captain together with leading scorer Johnny Dawkins, led the team to the championship game of the NCAA tournament, only to lose to Louisville.

Professional career

After being drafted by the Washington Bullets only in the third round of the 1986 NBA draft and not receiving a contract Henderson started his professional career in the CBA, and after a year he signed with the Philadelphia 76ers. Henderson played only 22 games in the 1987–88 NBA season, averaging just 5.7 points per game, so he moved to France where he played for two seasons.
In 1990, he moved to Israel, where he had a successful span with teams like Hapoel Tel Aviv, Maccabi Rishon LeZion, Hapoel Holon and Maccabi Ramat Gan. Henderson also played for Turkish team Galatasaray Café Crown.

Coaching career

Immediately after retiring Henderson assumed the assistant-coaching position at Duke, where he served for four seasons. In 2000, he received his first head coach position, in the University of Delaware men's team. On March 13, 2006 he was fired after the team suffered a 9–21 losing season.