As a sports-loving child growing up in Browning Acres, John Henson developed a passion for high school basketball at an early age. Now, the dean of sportswriters throughout southeastern Kentucky, Henson will be honored Friday at the UK Healthcare KHSAA Sweet 16 as a recipient of The Bob White/Mike Fields Media Service Award.
“Starting at age 11 or 12, I walked out to the newspaper box every morning and picked up the Louisville Courier Journal and took it with me to Hall Elementary School and would share with (social studies and physical education teacher) Acey Cornett during homeroom. I couldn’t get enough sports, and Bob White was one of the first writers I followed,” said Henson. “By the time I got to high school and college, I read Mike Fields in the Lexington Herald Leader every day. I thought Mike covered high school sports better than anyone in the nation for many years. It was an honor to get to know him once I started at the Enterprise, and now to receive an award named in honor of Bob and Mike is a bucket list item for me.”
Henson, who also serves as an English instructor at Harlan County High School, has been covering high school sports since 1985 for the Harlan Enterprise, where he is also the managing editor. Additionally, he is a contributing writer to The Cats Pause, a statewide publication that previews University of Kentucky football and basketball as well as high school football and basketball across the state annually.
“I started watching games with my dad and have never stopped. It’s been over 50 years, including around 40 as a sports writer,” Henson said. “Not too many people have been as lucky as I’ve been to be able to do something I like so much as a job for so many years. To receive this award at Rupp Arena during the Sweet Sixteen is an incredible honor.”
Henson is a 13th Region Media Lifetime Achievement Award recipient and resides in Browning Acres with his wife, Kim. He has two daughters, Samantha and Madelynn; and two granddaughters, Riley and Nora.
The Bob White/Mike Fields Media Service Award is presented to an individual in recognition of a career promoting student-athletes, coaches and officials throughout the state, as well as for devoted service to interscholastic athletics.