By Carlton White
Family has always meant a lot to Georgia State women's basketball head coach Lea Henry [-Manning]. Well, that is, family and basketball.
"I think my parents put a basketball in my crib with me," she recalled. "So, I grew up feeling an attachment to the sport. I spent countless hours playing basketball by myself or with friends until I started to play organized ball in the seventh grade."
Henry-Manning's father, William Thomas Henry, Sr. (but, everybody calls him "WT") was a high school basketball coach, who would leave work to pick up his then 2-year-old child and bring her back to the gym with him.
"While I was holding practice," WT said, "she would roll the ball around on the bleachers. And after practice, I would get her from the bleachers and let her try and shoot the ball into the baskets. I could tell from a very early age that she was keenly interested in the game of basketball. I've never seen a player or person with more desire to being successful at any discipline than Lea Henry was."
Henry-Manning committed herself to the game of basketball early in life, which meant getting plenty of rest, eating right, exercising and studying her craft.
Since those days in south Georgia and the small town of Damascus/Colquitt near Albany , where Henry-Manning grew up, her discipline and desire has taken her across the country and around the world. That journey has led her and her family to Macon , Ga. , where she will be inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame Honors Court Class of 2006 on Saturday, May 20.
"I think it is a great honor for her and a deserving one," said current Georgia State assistant coach Teresa Brown, who was recruited by Henry-Manning to play basketball at the University of Florida when Henry-Manning was an assistant. "She has proven herself in all aspects, from coaching, to being a player, to mentoring young women and other coaches; we are always learning something from her."
Henry-Manning always knew she'd end up in coaching. "It seemed like the right thing to do," she explained. "I wanted to play as I long as I could and it seemed like coaching was the natural thing to do after my playing career. I was always a leader; you have to be playing point guard. I felt like my leadership skills would help in the transition to coaching. I knew I would enjoy influencing young people.
"But, I almost quit playing before I even graduated high school. My dad coached me when I was a freshman. He saw how good I had become and thought it would be best if someone else coached me. When he left, I thought about quitting. He was afraid that I would play in an effort to please him. I realized later that he wanted me to play to just be better for myself."
Henry-Manning's coaching career spans over 20 years, but it was as a high school phenom at Southwest Georgia Academy that really got her noticed by college head coaches. She completed her scholastic career as the school's all-time leader in scoring, steals and assists, after averaging roughly 23 points per game as a senior. Her No. 34 jersey was retired to the rafters at Southwest Georgia Academy .
"My high school team made it to the state tournament every year, but we didn't win the championship," Henry-Manning said. "As a member of the team, and just growing up and playing basketball, I was always very motivated and driven to win. I knew what I wanted to do and I really enjoyed the competition of basketball.
"Back then, Tennessee , Louisiana Tech and UCLA were the top programs in the nation. At the end of my junior year, I had already received scholarship offers from Auburn , Florida State, and Georgia . But, I knew I had the ability to play for Tennessee and UCLA. So, I didn't commit to those other schools."
What Henry-Manning did do was tell her dad of her plans. WT then called Pat Head (now Summit), the head coach at Tennessee , to get some ideas on how he could help his daughter fulfill her goals. Summit sent WT an application to the first-ever United States Olympic Festival summer camp, of which Summit was a committee selection member.
Henry-Manning tried out at the camp and was selected to the 12-member South team. Her South team was sent to Colorado Springs , where the group competed against players from other regional squads. Among the 48 athletes at the event, 12 more, including Henry-Manning, were selected to join the U.S. Junior National team. Being on the junior national team exposed her to the national level schools.
"I committed to Tennessee before I left the campus," Henry-Manning stated. "I never visited anywhere else. I liked the school, I liked Pat, and I knew I would have a chance to succeed there and challenge myself. Choosing to play at Tennessee helped open a lot of doors for me, because Pat had so much influence."
Henry-Manning's experiences at Tennessee included captaining three teams to the Final Four and five stints as a member of the U.S. National team over the summer. As a four-year starter for the Lady Vols, Henry-Manning finished her collegiate career scoring more than 1,000 points and averaging 4.4 assists per game, while shooting 46.6 percent from the floor. She was also twice recognized as an Academic All-American, and in the Fall of 2005, Henry-Manning was inducted into the Tennessee Lady Vols Hall of Fame. The summer national teams gave Henry-Manning an opportunity to play with the best players in the country.
"Back then, playing basketball for Tennessee was the ultimate goal for any women's basketball player; so, being on that team was special," she mentioned. "Playing for the U.S. teams during the summer was also special, but in a different way. There was pride playing for the Tennessee and pride playing for the USA. I worked hard to make those sort of things happen."
As a member of the national teams, Henry-Manning was a natural choice to join the 1984 U.S. Olympic team for the Summer Games in Los Angeles. She captained the squad as its starting point guard and helped lead the team to an Olympic gold medal.
"As a player, Pat Summit and I had been to three Final Fours and lost two national championship games," she continued. "Those losses were hard to take. But, to win the gold medal with her as my coach, was a very exciting moment for me,"
The moment, however, was bittersweet for Henry-Manning, because it marked the end of her playing career. She played professionally for Houston in 1984 as a member of the WABA, but decided to devote her attention full-time to coaching.
"I started at a very early age with my coaching career when I was probably playing the best basketball of my life," said Henry-Manning. "I played as long as I could, and coaching seemed like the next natural step."
Henry-Manning spent two seasons as an assistant at Tennessee, one year at Stetson, and served as an assistant at Florida from 1986-90. She held the interim head coach tag at the end of the 1989-90 campaign, posting a 3-3 record. She landed the head coaching job at Mercer in 1990, and was named head coach at Georgia State in 1994, where she is the all-time leader in women's basketball coaching victories with 195. All total, Henry-Manning has spent 16 years as the head coach at two Division I schools in the state of Georgia. She is proud of this accomplishment, and even more proud to have affected the lives of so many young people.
"I coach with a purpose," she exclaimed. "I do it to help young people with the same type of goals that I have and to prepare them for the future. Some people get into coaching for the money or to work at a high profile school. I've never done that in my career. When I took over at Mercer and at Georgia State, both of those positions involved rebuilding the program. In both instances, it was rewarding for me to have success and to see our players achieve."
"Lea is the reason I ended up at Florida as a player," Brown said. "She taught me so much about the game and probably one of the reasons I am in coaching today is because of her influence."
"It's an honor and a privilege to have played for coach [Henry-Manning] and to be one of her assistants," stated assistant coach Evita Rogers. "As a player, she taught me so much about the game and helped take my game to another level. As an assistant coach, I'm learning new things as far as coaching goes, and I look forward to learning a lot more from her."
As Georgia State's head coach, Henry-Manning has led the team to four postseason tournaments, including three NCAA Tournaments, three conference championships and eight winning seasons over the past nine years. Throughout that time and throughout her career, she has always referred to the concept of "we" and not "I" when addressing team success or failure. The concept of "we" and family has been with her for a long time.
"Instead of going out to a party, the annual New Year's Eve celebration at our home was to go to the gym as a family and play basketball," explained WT. "We did that with Lea all the way through college. Everything we did was family-oriented and to help her do what she wanted to do."
Henry-Manning's will to achieve and devotion to family, basketball, and educating young people will be on display in Macon Saturday when the Hall of Fame committee announces her name. The day will mark a fitting tribute to an educator and mentor, who acknowledges her past and relishes her future.
"Being inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame is really extraordinary for me," Henry-Manning commented. "I feel like not only did I accomplish things as a good ambassador for the state as a player; I've been in Georgia giving back to young people through coaching and camps throughout the state. Georgia has been my whole life."
Welcome to your Hall of Fame, coach.
