July 26, 2005
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Iowa guard Mike Henderson will be one of 12 players representing the Big Ten Conference on the annual men’s basketball Foreign Tour. The tour is scheduled for August 9-19 and is expected to include five exhibition games in Spain. The complete schedule of games has not yet been finalized.
Henderson (6-2, 190) is a Waterloo native who will be a junior next season. A year ago he saw action in all 33 games, including 14 starts. Henderson averaged 4.9 points and 2.1 rebounds per game. He scored a career-high 17 points in a win over Michigan State in the Big Ten Tournament and had seven points in Iowa’s NCAA contest vs. Cincinnati.
The Big Ten team is being coached by Illinois Coach Bruce Weber. The team includes two players from Weber’s Illinois team and one player from each of the remaining Big Ten schools. Henderson joins Evan Seacat of Northwestern and Brian Randle and Calvin Brock from Illinois as the only four guards on the team.
Iowa center Erek Hansen was originally slated to make the trip, but Hansen relinquished his spot on the squad to Henderson due to the lack of guards on the team. Eight of the 12 players on the squad stand 6-8 or taller.
“It was a great gesture on Erek’s part to give his spot to Mike,” said Iowa Coach Steve Alford. “We had planned for Erek to make the trip, but with the way the squad came together, it created a great opportunity for Mike. This is a chance for Mike to play a lot of minutes at the point guard position and really enhance his summer of basketball.”
Henderson completed his play in the Prime Time League Monday evening, collecting 48 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in a semi-final loss.