SIOUX FALLS — Eric Henderson’s last game as head coach at South Dakota State was in Sioux Falls.
His first game as head coach of Drake will be there, too.
The Henderson era begins Monday at the Sanford Pentagon, when the Bulldogs open the 2025-26 season as part of the Field of 68 Showcase. Drake will face Northern Arizona at 3 p.m,
Murray State and Omaha kick off the event at 12:30 p.m., while the Jackrabbits take on Merrimack at 8 p.m. in the finale. All three games will be broadcast on the Field of 68’s YouTube channel and Twitter feed.
After six seasons at the helm of the Jackrabbits Henderson resigned from SDSU last spring to take over at Drake, replacing departed coach Ben McCollum, who left to be the coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes.
It was an understandable but still difficult move for both Henderson and Jackrabbit fans. Henderson went 129-60 at SDSU, with two NCAA tournament berths, four regular season conference titles, four 20-win seasons and a 30-win campaign in 2022 that remains arguable the best in program history. He was also wildly popular among fans, and clearly loved being the coach of the Jackrabbits. Henderson brought SDSU point guard Owen Larson and Sioux Falls Christian big man Griffin Goodbary with him to Drake, as well as assistant coaches Rob Klinkefus, Tramel Barnes and Billy Brown.
The move to Drake is logical step in the 47-year-old’s career. The Bulldogs have a steep basketball tradition, and each of their last three coaches before Henderson are now head coaches in the Big Ten.
The Bulldogs were in town Sunday night for a team shootaround, and ‘Hendo’ took some time to chat with Sioux Falls Live’s Matt Zimmer about his new team and reflect on his time in Brookings.
Drake head coach Eric Henderson (left) and assistant coach Rob Klinkefus at practice on Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025 at the Sanford Pentagon.
Matt Zimmer/Sioux Falls Live
MZ: How’s Drake? How’s it going?
EH: Oh, it’s been fun, Zim. I mean, it’s a basketball school. At the end of the day, they really care about it. I mean, the expectations are high, you know, but we love our group. My family’s been good, and so it’s been a good transition.
MZ: I heard that when you got there, you had one player on scholarship. So what was the process like in putting a team together?
EH: Well, I mean, obviously you know where it started. With Owen (Larson), and I mean, I just had such a belief in him. We have such a good connection, and so, you know, certainly talked to him about seeing if he wanted to come with, and that happened pretty quick. And then, honestly, it wasn’t much after that when Griffin got a call.
And then the other part of it is when we went into the transfer portal, we knew we had to get some older guys, right? Because when you looked at the Missouri Valley Conference, there was only like three true freshmen that played any significant minutes.
And the expectations at Drake are to win this year, not next year, not the year after that. So we knew we had to go to the portal, but we didn’t want to sacrifice our character. We didn’t want to sacrifice, you know, that selfless mindset that our teams have always played with. And so we looked for guys like that, and we’re sure happy with the guys we found.
MZ: I hear Griffin’s going to play right away. How does he look? What’s he going to give you?
EH: Yeah, Griffin’s been awesome, man. I mean, just, he’s changed his body in the short amount of time he’s been there. He’s always had a strong lower body. His legs have always been really strong. But he’s put some strength on upstairs too, which he really, really needed. And then just his feel. You know, he’s 6’10, he can shoot the ball.
Drake assistant coach Rob Klinkefus (far right) came with Eric Henderson from South Dakota State after last season.
Matt Zimmer/Sioux Falls Live
And so just that versatility, being able to space teams out, and defensively he’s way better than we even thought he was going to be. And so we’re sure happy with Griffin, and he’s going to make a great impact for us.
EH: Having Klink and Tramel coming with you and then having those players too, I mean, are you kind of bringing your system, your culture, like nothing changes?
EH: Yeah, I mean, I’m not going to change who I am, right? You know, I’ve talked to mentors of mine, and they just said, hey, stay true to yourself. You don’t have to change just because you’re going up levels. Are you going to recruit a little bit different players? Maybe a little bit, but don’t change your DNA. And so, yeah, our philosophy, our style system, our core value system, we are who we are.
MZ: You talked about it. I mean, the expectations are high. The last few coaches obviously had a lot of success and moved up. Does that put a little pressure on you?
South Dakota State head coach Eric Henderson and assistant coach Rob Klinkefus watch warmups during the NCAA first round practice session on Wednesday, March 20, 2024 at CHI Health Center Omaha.
Dylan Widger / USA Today Sports
EH: I mean, Zim, you were there when I took over at South Dakota State. You know, TJ (Otzelberger), Scott Nagy, I mean, two terrific coaches. They were winning like crazy. Going into the NCAA tournament, we lost all of our players. You know the deal.
And, you know, there probably is some, but that’s really not how I look at it. You know how I look at things and just want to make sure we’re having fun, obviously working, having a great competitive spirit and playing together. But we know what the expectations are.
MZ: Well, now that you’ve had a summer to be in Drake, to get some distance from it, how do you look back at your time in Brookings?
EH: I mean, honestly, over time it probably becomes even more special, to be honest with you. Just the people, the friendships that we made, and just how we were able to help young people just have a bunch of great memories. You know what I mean? And hopefully set them up for success in life.
Former Sioux Falls Christian standout Griffin Goodbary (2) takes a shot at Drake basketball practice on Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025 at the Sanford Pentagon. Goodbary will make his college debut on Monday when the Bulldogs face Northern Arizona in the Field of 68 Showcase.
Matt Zimmer/Sioux Falls Live
Obviously, some are still playing and others are kicking butt in the workforce, right? And that’s probably what I’m most proud of, and the experience that we were able to provide along with our fans, our administration and the school is really second to none. So when I look back on it, I’m just still extremely grateful and thankful for the opportunities and friendships and relationships that we built along the way. MZ: Are you excited for Bryan Petersen to see what he can do taking over?
EH: Of course. I mean, was it six years ago when it was a similar situation, right? And so you have to be happy for your guys, right? And we’ll be rooting for Petey and all of the Jacks. You know, a lot of the players stayed, which was great. I’m really happy about that, and I’ll be their biggest fan.
