| Caleb Henson was an assistant coach at Lubbock Christian which won the NCAA Division II championship last season. |
Caleb Henson has been named new head women's basketball coach at Sul Ross State University in an announcement made Thursday by SRSU Director of Athletics Bobby Mesker. He replaces Aaron Tavitas who stepped down after two seasons.
Henson served as assistant women's basketball coach at NCAA Division II Lubbock Christian University where he helped guide the Lady Chaps to a perfect 35-0 record and a national title in 2015-16. He has also served as an assistant coach at South Plains College.
"Coach Henson brings over a decade of various collegiate coaching experience to Sul Ross," said Mesker. "Our search committee was looking for an individual who can recruit a mixture of talent, work ethic, discipline and high character and Caleb really promoted those recruiting objectives during the interview process."
"We are thrilled to be a part of the Sul Ross and Alpine community," Henson said. "One of my main objectives is to build a 'team first' mindset while expecting individuals to be accountable, disciplined, mentally tough and focused."
Henson is a Ropesville, Texas native who attended Howard Payne University, South Plains College and Texas Tech University. He graduated from Texas Tech in 2008 with a B.S. in Exercise and Sport Sciences with a minor in English.
While attending Howard Payne, Henson played on the basketball team and was a manager. At South Plains College, he served as a manager for the Lady Texans. He also served as a manager for two years under Kristy Curry and her staff at Texas Tech.
During his academic career, Henson also coached several AAU teams and has assisted with area camps and clinics.
Henson returned to South Plains College as an assistant coach on the women's basketball staff and then joined the LCU women's basketball staff as a graduate assistant coach before receiving a promotion prior to the 2010/2011 season.
During his tenure at LCU Henson helped guide the Chap program to a No. 1 NAIA ranking for most of the 2012-13 season. The next season Lubbock Christian finished 25-1 including a perfect 20-0 record in the Heartland Conference. The Chaps then finished as Heartland Conference Co-Champions in 2014-15 and ranked fifth in the nation at all levels in team GPA 3.71. This past season LCU ranked No. 1 in every major NCAA Division II poll.
Sul Ross State finished 4-21, 1-13 in the ASC last season and won just five conference games combined during the past five seasons.