Inductees

Many probably remember the benches-clearing brawl between the Missouri Tigers and Kansas Jayhawks in March 1961 – with Mizzou center Charlie Henke right in the middle of it.

Fortunately, that is not Henke’s claim to fame. No, for that, just look at Mizzou basketball’s record book, because his name is all over it – thanks in part to his coach, Norm Stewart.

“My freshman year was his first year of coaching in (the fall of) 1957. He put me in the post and told me what he wanted me to do,” said Henke, pronounced Heenk. “When I didn’t do what I was supposed to do, other things would happen. You could say with a degree of accuracy, he’d throw some basketballs – and some at me.”

That Henke laughed in sharing that story is understandable, considering his unpredictable rise from small-town Malta Bend to the big time. You see, he emerged as one of Mizzou’s first successful big men and later went on to coach high school basketball for 30 years. In fact, for his lifetime of work, the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame proudly inducted Henke into the Class of 2016.

At Mizzou, Henke earned All-Big Eight honors in 1960 and 1961 as he led the Tigers in scoring, rebounding, and field goal percentage. In his senior year, he tried out for the U.S. Olympic team and then was a consensus All-American by the Associated Press, United Press International, and Helms Foundation.

More impressive, his career point total of 1,338 stood as the team record until 1973. And although that figure now ranks 20^th, Henke achieved the total in only 74 games – whereas 15 players ahead of him played in at least 105 games.

Henke’s last game is one most remember. Missouri upset Kansas, 79-73, on March 11, 1961, but did so after officials ejected Henke and KU’s Wayne Hightower early in the second half. Hightower, apparently frustrated at Henke’s strong defense, scored a bucket and set off the brawl.

“About that time, just as I looked around, Hightower smacked me right between the eyes,” Henke said with a smile.

These days, Henke looks back with fondness on a great playing career. His 24.6 scoring average led the Big 8 that season and remains sixth-best in program history. His Mizzou career scoring average (18.1), career free throws attempted (554) and free throws made (396) are all sixth-best in school history, too, while his career rebounding average (9.8) is fifth-best (based on 725 rebounds).

To Henke, it’s still remarkable that he was discovered at all in Malta Bend, a community of about 400 located between Kansas City and Columbia.

There, he was a three-year starter, plus earned All-State, All La-Saline Conference and all-district. As a senior, he averaged a conference-best 23 points and 23 rebounds.

“My junior year, we went to the state tournament in Springfield, and that’s when they had M, L, and S (classifications). We had only 55 in our school, nine through 12, and we had a pretty good experience. But we ran into New Haven and lost by 29,” Henke said, before breaking into a laugh. “Because they beat the next team by more than 30, we figured we were the second-best team in the state.”

Fortunately, Mizzou’s coaching staff had heard about him along the way.

“My senior year, my high school superintendent steered me toward the University of Missouri,” Henke said. “He knew someone down there, and he had sent a clipping of a ball game and told them to check out this individual. As far as I knew, they saw me play one time.”

After college, Henke played for the College All-American Tour vs. the Harlem Globetrotters and was a fourth-round draft pick of the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers. He also played in the Arrat Shrine All-Star Game in Kansas, the only other all-star game at that time. He then played one season for the Kansas City Steers of the American Basketball League before going into coaching.

Henke was a basketball coach from 1966 to 1996, working for Nevada (1966-1970), Mehlville (1970-1975), and Carrollton (1975-1996). For him, he turned it into a learning experience for the players.

“I’d say, ‘You’ve got to learn to play with people you don’t like and you do like,’” said Henke, who has since been inducted into the Mizzou Athletics Hall of Fame and is part of Mizzou’s All-Century team. “It’s a great lesson for later in life, and that’s the most important thing for these kids. … You always look back in retrospect. But I did the very best I could at that time.”