Drake hires Henderson as new coach
MBB: After six years leading South Dakota State, Henderson is taking over the Bulldogs
Drake has announced that Eric Henderson will be their 31st men’s basketball head coach. Henderson replaces Ben McCollum, who left Drake earlier this week to become the next head coach at Iowa.
"My family and I are elated to join Drake Nation," Henderson said in a statement. "Early on in this process it became evident that values and vision aligned with the incredible path President Martin and (Athletics Director) Brian Hardin have already established. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity they have given me and my family to walk that path with them. The excitement for Drake basketball is at an all-time high, and I'm looking forward to building relationships and representing such a committed university and fan base. Go Bulldogs!"
After starting out as a high school coach, Henderson took his first college assistant coaching job at North Dakota State in 2014. After two seasons, the Iowa native took an assistant’s job at South Dakota State from 2016-19.
"Eric quickly established himself in a talented pool of candidates as the best person to lead our men's basketball program," Hardin said in a statement. "He elevated South Dakota State to not only the premier program in the Summit League but also one of the best programs at our level in the country. Beyond basketball, though, Eric is an educator at heart and his development of the young men in his program is consistent with our vision for head coaches at Drake. We are thrilled to welcome Eric, Alicia, Kooper, Kort, McKinley, and Kyler to our Drake Athletics family."
In the spring of 2019, TJ Otzelberger left South Dakota State to take over the program at UNLV. That’s when Henderson got his first chance to be a Division I head coach. Henderson led the Jackrabbits to at least a share of the Summit League regular season championship in four of his first five seasons, and took South Dakota State to the NCAA Tournament in 2022 and 2024.
In his six seasons with the Jackrabbits, Henderson had an overall record of 129-60, and a conference record of 76-20. He will now take over a Drake program that has won the last three Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championships.