Jermaine Henderson

Hometown: Columbus, Ohio Position: Assistant Coach Alma Mater: Miami (Ohio), 1997

A cornerstone of the men's basketball program at Miami University for the past 19 years, Jermaine Henderson joined the Missouri State staff on April 20, 2012.

A highly-regarded tactician, recruiter and motivator, Henderson spent the previous 15 seasons as an assistant with the Miami (Ohio) RedHawks, including the last seven as associate head coach. He began his playing career with Miami in 1993 and had been a mainstay on the Oxford, Ohio, campus ever since. After a four-year stint as a player, he worked as a volunteer assistant for coach Charlie Coles in 1997-98 and then moved into a full-time assistant role the following summer. He was promoted from assistant coach to associate head coach in June 2005 and has since been an intricate part of the program's daily operations, including scouting, administration, budgeting, development, mentoring, academic coordinating and recruiting.

During his tenure as a player and coach, Henderson helped the RedHawks go 329-252 overall and 207-123 in the Mid-American Conference. He has been part of 10 postseason tournament runs, four conference titles and two MAC Tournament championships. MU played in four NCAA Tournaments (1995, 1997, 1999 and 2007) and made one Sweet 16 run in addition to being selected to the NIT in 1994, 1996, 2005 and 2006. Miami was also part of the CBI in 2008 and 2011.

The 37-year-old native of Columbus, Ohio, went 3-3 as interim head coach for the Red and White during stints in 2007-08 and 2011-12 while head coach Charlie Coles tended to health-related issues.

MSU head coach Paul Lusk brought Henderson on board due to his impeccable professional credentials and tremendous work ethic, in addition to his vast experience in all phases of coaching.

Henderson was a senior on Coles' first Miami team in 1996-97, which advanced to the NCAA Tournament after winning the MAC Tournament title. He served as team co-captain that year and averaged 8.3 points and 3.4 rebounds with 16 starts. He completed his 89-game playing career with 86 three-pointers which ranked No. 8 in school history at the time. He also was a two-time recipient of the program's Jamie Mercurio Award, the team's most meaningful postseason award which is presented annually to the RedHawks player who best demonstrates courage and perseverance. Henderson coached 33 All-MAC players during his time at MU, including 11 first-team picks, and ten 1,000-point scorers. He also helped mold two players who went on to earn MAC Player of the Year and All-America honors in Michael Bramos (2009) and Wally Szczerbiak (1999).

The product of Columbus (Ohio) East High earned Street & Smith's All-America recognition over his final two seasons and averaged 22.4 points, 9.6 rebounds and 8.1 assists as a prep senior. He was also a two-time all-state, all-conference, all-district and all-city selection.