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Associated Press 9y

Former coach Lou Henson out of hospital, starting chemotherapy

Men's College Basketball, Illinois Fighting Illini, New Mexico State Aggies

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Former Illinois and New Mexico State basketball coach Lou Henson has been released from a Texas hospital and is scheduled to soon begin chemotherapy treatments, according to his wife.

Henson's wife, Mary, told The News-Gazette in Champaign that the 83-year-old retired coach is staying with family in Houston.

Henson, who has dealt with both non-Hodgkins lymphoma and encephalitis over the past 12 years, left Champaign on June 21 for M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston to determine why his immune system has weakened. He had spent several days in isolation at a hospital in Illinois.

He'll begin regular chemotherapy treatments before a planned return to Champaign on July 12. The treatments will continue from there and continue indefinitely, Mary Henson said.

Henson is the winningest coach in the history of both Illinois and New Mexico State, his alma mater. This year, he was named to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame and is due to be inducted in November.

Henson retired from coaching 2005 but remains a popular, well-liked figure in Champaign and Las Cruces, New Mexico. Henson and his wife split their time between the two towns.

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