Former New Mexico State assistant Ken Henson dies at 83

LAS CRUCES – Ken Henson, brother of legendary New Mexico State head coach Lou Henson and a former assistant on the Aggies' staff, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 83.

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

Ken Henson also 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, Oklahoma, where he won a pair of Oklahoma Seven Conference titles and was twice honored as the Tulsa Tribune Coach of the Year. 

In 1968, Ken 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.

Ken Henson then 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. Ken Henson was named the NAIA District IV Coach of the Year following the conclusion of the campaign.

Ken Henson then served as Howard Payne's athletic director before leaving to enter private business in 1975. A 1961 graduate of Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, he also earned a master's degree in mathematics from Southeastern State University (now Southeastern Oklahoma State University) in 1967.

Ken Henson is survived by his wife (Ellen Henson), two daughters (Lanet McShan and Deborah Parker), one son (Reverend Keith Henson), six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. 

Funeral services will be held at 9 a.m. MT on Friday at Yukon Church in Yukon, Oklahoma. The program will be live-streamed on www.YukonChurch.org and can be accessed by pressing Sunday Service.