The Lou Henson Award is an award given annually by CollegeInsider.com to the most outstanding mid-major

Mid-major

Mid-major is a term used in American Division I college sports, to refer to athletic conferences that are not among the major six conferences...

 men's college basketball player in NCAA Division I competition. The award, established in 2010, is named for legendary Illinois Fighting Illini

Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball

The Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team is an NCAA Division I college basketball team competing in the Big Ten Conference. Home games are played at Assembly Hall, located on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's campus in Champaign....

 head coach Lou Henson

Lou Henson

Lou Henson is a former college basketball coach. He retired as the all time leader in victories at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with 423 victories and New Mexico State with 289 victories...

. Henson, who also coached at Hardin-Simmons

Hardin-Simmons University

Hardin–Simmons University is a private Baptist university located in Abilene, Texas, United States.-History:Hardin–Simmons University was founded as Abilene Baptist College in 1891 by the Sweetwater Baptist Association and a group of cattlemen and pastors who sought to bring Christian higher...

 and New Mexico State

New Mexico State Aggies men's basketball

The New Mexico State Aggies Basketball team is the basketball team that represents New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded in 1904, the Aggies currently compete in the Western Athletic Conference and last played in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament in 2010...

, compiled 779 all-time wins. He is in the top 10 of NCAA coaching wins in men's basketball history.

Background

At the same time the Henson Award was established, CollegeInsider.com also created the Lou Henson All-America Team, consisting of the 30 players that its selection committee deems to be the top Division I mid-major players. Unlike most other All-America teams in basketball and other sports, the Henson All-America Team is not divided into different grades (e.g., first team, second team, third team, honorable mention)—all 30 players are treated equally as All-Americans.

Definitions of the term "mid-major" in the context of college basketball vary widely. For purposes of both the Henson All-America Team and Henson Award, CollegeInsider.com has established its own definition of the term, which excludes players from the following conferences:

• The six conferences
  BCS conference
  An Automatic Qualifying conference is an athletic conference in NCAA Division I FBS whose champion receives an automatic berth in one of the five Bowl Championship Series bowl games...
  
   whose football
  College football
  College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
  
   champions automatically qualify for the Bowl Championship Series
  Bowl Championship Series
  The Bowl Championship Series is a selection system that creates five bowl match-ups involving ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , including an opportunity for the top two to compete in the BCS National Championship Game.The BCS relies on a combination of...
  
  :
  • Atlantic Coast Conference
    Atlantic Coast Conference
    The Atlantic Coast Conference is a collegiate athletic league in the United States. Founded in 1953 in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC sanctions competition in twenty-five sports in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association for its twelve member universities...
    
    
  • Big 12 Conference
    Big 12 Conference
    The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference of ten schools located in the Central United States, with its headquarters located in Las Colinas, a community in the Dallas, Texas suburb of Irving...
    
    
  • Big East Conference
    Big East Conference
    The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletics conference consisting of sixteen universities in the eastern half of the United States. The conference's 17 members participate in 24 NCAA sports...
    
    
  • Big Ten Conference
    Big Ten Conference
    The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
    
    
  • Pacific-12 Conference
  • Southeastern Conference
    Southeastern Conference
    The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...
    
    
• The following "non-AQ" football conferences:
  • Conference USA
    Conference USA
    Conference USA, officially abbreviated C-USA, is a college athletic conference whose member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports...
    
    
  • Mountain West Conference
    Mountain West Conference
    The Mountain West Conference , popularly known as the Mountain West, is the youngest of the college athletic conferences affiliated with the NCAA’s Division I FBS . The MWC officially began operations in July 1999...
    
    
  • Western Athletic Conference
    Western Athletic Conference
    The Western Athletic Conference is an American collegiate athletic conference, which was formed on July 27, 1962, making it the sixth oldest of the 11 college athletic conferences currently participating in the NCAA's Division I FBS...
    
    
• One Division I non-football conference:
  • Atlantic 10 Conference

Winners

Player (X)

Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded the Lou Henson Award

Year	Player	School	Position	Class	Reference
2009–10 2009–10 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2009–10 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 9, 2009, and ended with the 2010 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament's championship game on April 5, 2010 on the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The opening round occurred on Tuesday, March 16, 2010, followed by first...		Oakland Oakland Golden Grizzlies men's basketball The Oakland Golden Grizzlies are the men's basketball team that represent Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, USA. The school's team competes in The Summit League and plays their home games at the Athletics Center O'Rena. The Golden Grizzlies are coached by Greg Kampe...	Center Center (basketball) The center, colloquially known as the five or the post, is one of the standard positions in a regulation basketball game. The center is normally the tallest player on the team, and often has a great deal of strength and body mass as well...
2010–11 2010–11 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2010–11 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 8, 2010 with the preliminary games of the 2010 Coaches Vs. Cancer Classic, and ended with the 2011 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament's championship game on April 4, 2011 at Reliant Stadium in Houston...		Butler Butler Bulldogs men's basketball The Butler Bulldogs men's basketball team represents Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The school's team currently competes in the Horizon League, of which it has been a member since 1979...	Power forward Power forward (basketball) Power forward is a position in the sport of basketball. The position is referred to in playbook terms as the four position and is commonly abbreviated "PF". It has also been referred to as the "post" position. Power forwards play a role similar to that of center in what is called the "post" or "low...

Winners by school

School	Winners	Years
Butler Butler University Butler University is a private university located in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 1855 and named after founder Ovid Butler, the university offers 60 degree programs to 4,400 students through six colleges: business, communication, education, liberal Arts and sciences, pharmacy and health...	1	2011
Oakland Oakland University Oakland University is a public university co-founded by Matilda Dodge Wilson and John A. Hannah whose campus is located in central Oakland County, Michigan, United States in the cities of Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills. It is the only major research university in Oakland County, from which OU...	1	2010

External links

• Official site