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Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Mitch Henderson '98 Introduced as Men's Basketball Coach
April 21, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Mitch Henderson '98 was introduced Thursday afternoon as the Franklin C. Cappon-Edward G. Green '40 head coach of men's basketball at Princeton. Below are comments from Princeton Director of Athletics Gary Walters '67 and Henderson.
Princeton Director of Athletics Gary Walters '67
Candidly, introducing Mitch to the Princeton basketball nation is an unnecessary exercise. 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. But Bill Carmody, who was Mitch's coach at Princeton, said that Mitch was the heart and soul of the team. No less than the maestro himself, Coach Carril, called both Mitch and me and he's overjoyed that Mitch will be carrying the coaching torch. No one can forget the UCLA game, that leap of pure joy, that infectious exhilaration. That picture, referred to as iconic by the media, actually is also featured in President Shirley Tilghman's office. Now that is respect. Mitch played with compassion, toughness and intelligence, and he exuded the leadership ability reflective of the first-class point guard that he was. Those qualities will serve him well as he inherits the foundation of a program established by his coaching predecessor and teammate, Sydney Johnson. Make no mistake, however, Mitch has earned the right to assume the reins. In addition to his obvious court awareness, he has labored for 11 years as an assistant coach at Northwestern, where he honed his coaching skills and established his recruiting bona fides. His infectious enthusiasm and desire to accept the daunting challenge of coaching at Princeton was palpable in our interviews, so much so that when I told Mitch that the job was his, his feelings of joy literally appeared to levitate him again in much the same way as his defiance of gravity after the UCLA game is etched in our minds.
On having a Princeton alumnus as coach:
Certainly, the idea of having in essence an Ivy League background and being familiar with the Ivy League philosophy and also the Princeton philosophy I think smooths the transition for a coach that's coming to Princeton, but I don't see it as a prerequisite for the job. We have been very fortunate and very blessed to have so many people who are alumni that have decided to pursue teaching, coaching, eductation as part of their lifestyle and not necessarily chase the big bucks on Wall Street, if you will. So I think as a result of that, we've always had people with prior experience who have been successful that we could tap into. My job as the Director of Athletics is to, with the help of the advisory committee with any of our positions, is to appoint the best person for the job. Who is going to be the best philosophical fit? Who is going to understand how to do things right and do the right thing so that our players have great role models? I think we have been able to find that in our basketball program. Having said that, Mitch earned the right to be here. We had wonderful candidates whom we interviewed. They were classy people, class acts, as is Mitch, and it made the decision by the advisory committee and me all the more difficult. I want to thank all of them that engaged our process, but at the very same time, understand that Mitch emerged because of the quality of person and the quality of coach that he is today.
Franklin C. Cappon-Edward G. Green head coach of Princeton men's basketball, Mitch Henderson '98
I'm thrilled to be here, and first of all I want to thank Gary. I'll never forget that it's Gary that has given me my first opportunity to be a head basketball coach. I also want to thank the committee. These processes are so important as you develop into a head coach, and I just want to thank Princeton for putting together a fabulous committee. I'm thrilled and eager to accept the role and the challenge of being the head coach at Princeton. I also want to thank my former teammate Sydney and his staff for the job they have done, and I am eager to continue to build on their successes. I met with the team last night for the first time and we had workouts this morning and it's a great group. 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. I also want to thank Bill Carmody for giving me my start in coaching. I've had a wonderful run at Northwestern. I wouldn't be here where I am today without Bill's guidance. I owe a lot of thanks to him for that. In closing, I'll just say that the campus is exactly how I remember it, but better in many ways. I'm thrilled to be wearing the orange and black, and I'm eager to put my influences and put our own stamp on the current team. We're anxious to get started togther. We have a week left of workouts. It was so fun to get on the court this morning with the guys. I think they shared my enthusiasm. My strengths are, I'm tireless, I have a passion for Princeton basketball, but I particularly have a strong passion for Princeton University. I'm eager to hit the recruiting trail hard and start to work on our 2012 class. I want to again say thank you very much to everybody here and I appreciate everyone coming.
On the style of play he will employ a coach:
We want to continue what has been built with this team. We've got a great group of guys that know how to win. Style is less important to me than the way we're going to go about our business. At Northwestern, we led the Big Ten in scoring last year. We were third in scoring this year. I'd like to play up-and-down a little bit, but I also want to continue what we've been doing defensively, so I think you'll see a hard-nosed approach. You'll see the guys going about their business the right way, which is the hallmark of Princeton basketball. We're certainly pointing to that first game in November as a time when we're going to walk on the court together, holding arms together and being ready to go.
On the reaction to Henderson's hiring of former head coach Pete Carril:
He was excited. First of all, I was effusive in my praise for him, as I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for Coach Carril. I walked on the campus here pretty green. I hadn't been exposed to a lot, certainly not the way Coach Carril went about his business as a teacher. But he taught me the value of, how you walk on the court, and when you come down here to work at Jadwin, you go about your business. When you leave, you go to work in the classroom. I tried to carry that as a coach at Northwestern, and today it's going to be really important with how I deal with our guys. It's the relationship with Coach Carril now that I love, and I want that relationship with my players. I want them to feel comfortable with me on and off the court. He was happy. I hope to see him in and around campus and in the gym in June. I hope to see a lot of him.
On expressing his interest in Princeton's head coaching position:
I expressed my interest right away. Being a fan since graduation, I've never really left the university. I've been back for reunion weekends and I've followed Sydney's team closely, obviously being close with his staff. I really felt like, having an opportunity to be at Northwestern for so long, I was excited about my chances, but I was also eager to prove to Gary and to the committee that I was a worthy guy for the job.
On his meeting with the players:
I told them that the fastest way to a good player's heart is to let those guys know that you care about them getting better. I want to build up some trust with these guys. They need to know that I'm here to help them continue doing what they've been doing. It's a good group of guys. I can tell they like each other. I shared with them my strengths. I shared with them and said, this is a clean slate for some of you guys, but it's also an opportunity for you to get to know a guy that wants you to be successful, and I'm going to show them that not just with my words, but with my actions on the court.
On Princeton's head coaching position:
This is a special place. I know the message here. I know what the university means, and to get a commitment from a university to the athletic program and to the basketball program the way that Princeton does, I just know how rare that is. So this is a special opportunity and I don't forget that. ... If I could be lucky enough to be here as long as Coach Carril was here, 29 years, sign me up.
On his coaching staff at Princeton:
I'm working on a staff as we go. I'm eager to get those guys in place. I talked to the guys about this last night. We're going to make sure that we've got a staff that our guys feel comfortable with, that understands recruiting as it is today, certainly with respect to the kind of player and the kind of person that you would want at Princeton. I have no doubt we'll put together a great staff. I think a great staff is a staff that trusts each other, but there's a value added on the court. I want some guys that are going to bring some fresh ideas into what we are doing offensively and defensively.
On former Princeton and current Northwestern head coach Bill Carmody:
I think Bill has a great eye for the game, much like Pete. He sees the game easily. He's very good with the media, so I've learned a lot of what it means to be a head coach today is how you talk and how you relate yourself to the general public to market your progam. Bill has a particularly great talent for finding what needs to be done with the team and how to make that team successful. For instance, with this year's team, we had a point guard that could really handle the ball and make a lot of decisions in Mike Thompson, and we sort of allowed him to make the reads that he needed to make. I think that Coach Carmody also gives you that confidence. When I was a player here, one of his things was, figure it out. You've got to learn how to do that. It's a growing-up process. There will be a lot of that going on around here. You've got to learn how to play.
On the current Princeton players:
They're winners. This sophomore class is one of the most decorated classes in the history of the program. They want to be good. With Doug (Davis) and Ian (Hummer) and Brendan Connolly and Patrick Saunders, just to name a few of those guys, you've got some guys that have played a significant amount of minutes, that have had and opportunity to play in some hugely important Ivy League games and a playoff game, similar to my experience here when we played in a playoff game, and then an NCAA Tournament game. So these guys have won. Now it's just a matter of teaching them, there's another step here, and how do we take it to the next level. With the addition of new recruits, I'll be anxious to see where we go with that.
On how he got into coaching:
When you get an opportunity to play at Princeton, you get plugged into a network of former players and fans of the program that I think is the best in the country. So not only are you getting a chance to meet the current guys on the team, but immediately you meet Kit Mueller and Steve Mills and John Rogers and Craig Robinson and Frank Sowinski. You meet all these great guys that care so much about who you are as a person and what you're doing as a member of the name on the front of the jersey. I loved that part of being a part of this program. It was an easy choice for me when Bill came calling to work at Northwestern. I like the relationships over the long haul and I want to continue to build that tradition here.
On Princeton's open head coaching position in 2007:
I was very interested in the position when Sydney got the job. I think often as an assistant you think you're ready, and I'm thankful for the four years that I've had to develop as a coach. I feel like I'm even more ready today than I've ever been and I appreciated the chance. The preparation that goes in to being a head coach takes time. I think on the court, you think you're ready, but it's the stuff off the court that's most important, particularly with recruiting. Once you get your way a little bit off the court, I think that's when you're really ready to be a coach and I feel that way for sure.
On the Ivy League:
It's a great league. I follow it closely. We're usually on the bus on Friday nights, passing the phone with scores back and forth between each other. I'm well aware of the competition in the league. It's a very competitive league. There are challenges, and each school in the league meets them. That's why this is a special place to play and why this is a special conference to play in, because of who we are. We all accept that. So I'm excited to be a part of the league and I'm eager to get going.
On taking over a winning program:
When you inherit a program that's down, you fight the culture of losing. That is just so difficult. We're in a position at Northwestern, those guys, they're on firm ground and they're ready to push off to a level that they have never seen before. I'm excited to watch those guys play. With inheriting a group that really knows what they're doing, you must highlight the strengths of that team. That'll be done. We're going to play the way that gives us the best chance to be successful.