Henrickson Honored by KBCA as Women's College Coach of the Year
Aug. 2, 2012
TOPEKA, Kan. – The Kansas Basketball Coaches Association honored KU women’s head basketball coach Bonnie Henrickson with the women’s college coach of the year award Thursday at Washburn University. Henrickson earned the award after she led the 2011-12 Jayhawks to a 21-13 record and their best postseason run in 14 years, advancing to the NCAA Sweet 16.
“It’s always humbling to be honored by your peers for your accomplishments and this is no different,” said Henrickson. “It was a great year for our program and much of the credit for this award needs to go to the staff and more importantly the players for all their success in 2011-12.”
In her eighth season at the University of Kansas, Henrickson saw her Jayhawks advance to the postseason for the sixth time. Kansas finished the 2011-12 season with a 21-13 overall record and earned its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2000. After defeating Nebraska and Delaware in the first weekend, the Jayhawks advanced to their third Sweet 16 in program history and first since 1998. Despite falling to perennial power Tennessee in the re-gional semifinal, KU’s postseason run helped the team earn a spot in the final national rankings coming in at No. 25 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll.
Henrickson helped develop two all-Americans in 2012 marking the first time in Kansas history the program has had multiple all-America selections in the same season. Additionally, three Kansas players were named All-Big 12 as Henrickson now has 20 all-conference honorees in her 15 seasons as a head coach.
Upon arriving at KU for the 2004-05 season, Henrickson earned the 2005 Carol Eckman Award- an award given by the WBCA which recognizes a coach who exemplifies spirit, integrity and character through sportsmanship, commitment to the student-athlete, honesty, ethical behavior, courage and dedication to purpose. The very next season, Henrickson’s second campaign was capped by a berth to the WNIT, KU’s first postseason appearance since 2000. In 2008-09, Kansas advanced all the way to the title game of the WNIT. Despite falling to South Florida in the championship contest, 16,113 fans came out to support the Jayhawks in historic Allen Fieldhouse, a Big 12 single-game attendance record.
A Willmar, Minn., native, Henrickson graduated from St. Cloud State University in 1986. As a player, she helped SCSU win three Northern Sun Conference championships and advance to three NCAA Division II quarterfinals. She still ranks among the school leaders in points, rebounds, free throws and free throw percentage. She also was named to the all-conference team three times.
Bonnie Henrickson Golf Tournament
The eighth annual Bonnie Henrickson Golf Tournament will take place on Saturday, Aug. 25 at Alvamar Country Club in Lawrence. Registration for the event is available for singles, pairs and foursomes. All proceeds from the tournament will go to Kansas Women’s Basketball and the Lawrence Memorial Hospital Breast Cancer Center.
The event includes a four-person scramble at 1 p.m. followed by a dinner and live and silent auctions beginning at 6 p.m. Cost of entry is $100 for individuals, $200 for pairs and $400 for foursomes. Sponsorships are also available. To register and learn more about the 2012 Bonnie Henrickson Golf Tournament visit www.BonnieGolf2012.com.
