SAN DIEGO – Former San Diego State men's volleyball head coach Jack Henn passed away Sunday night (March 22) after a battle with cancer at the age of 79.
Henn, who played collegiately for the Aztecs in the early 1960s, later coached the program in two separate stints, highlighted by the University's lone NCAA Division I championship in 1973.
"Jack Henn made a difference in so many people's lives during his tenure at San Diego State," said Aztec women's volleyball head coach Brent Hilliard. "I hope many will appreciate everything he did for the sport. It is amazing to reflect on some of his greatest achievements as a player, coach, leader and perhaps best of all, a mentor to so many young people. My heart goes out to his family, friends and all who had the opportunity to be coached by him."
Born in Evansville, Indiana, Henn moved with his family to California as a youth, eventually graduating from San Diego High School before earning a bachelor's degree in physical education from San Diego State. With the Aztecs, Henn garnered a total of eight All-America honors from USA Volleyball nationals and the collegiate championships.
Following his selection as an alternate for the United States Olympic team in 1964, Henn competed as a setter-hitter for the American squad at the 1968 Summer Games in Mexico City, where the U.S. was the lone team to defeat the Soviet Union, which later advanced to win the gold medal.
In addition, Henn participated in the 1966 World Championships in the former Czechoslovakia and served as captain of the U.S. team that earned a gold medal at the 1967 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
In 1966, Henn was named head coach at San Diego State, the same year the men's volleyball program was elevated to varsity status after competing at the club level.
Henn guided the Aztecs to the USVBA national collegiate championship in 1968, two years before the sport was sanctioned by the NCAA, with San Diego State defeating Church College of Hawaii (now BYU-Hawaii) in the finals in Portland, Oregon. One of the players on that stacked team was Mark Warner, who later worked with Henn before serving as head coach of the Aztec women's volleyball program from 1995-2008.
After finishing as NCAA runner-up to UCLA in 1972, Henn directed SDSU to the national title the following year in 1973, as the Scarlet and Black knocked off Long Beach State in four sets at the San Diego Sports Arena in front of 8,412 fans. Among the many standout players Henn coached on that team were All-Americans Chris Marlowe and Duncan McFarland, who were later enshrined into the Aztec Athletics Hall of Fame.
After leaving SDSU in 1974, Henn moved with his family to India, where he taught physical education at the high school level from 1976-79. He also worked as manager of a bank in Ojai, California.
Henn rejoined the Aztec men's volleyball team as a volunteer coach in 1985 and served as co-coach with Warner in 1987 and 1988, before taking over the sole reins once again by 1991. He remained with the program until 2000 when the sport was eliminated due to budget concerns.
During his second stint on The Mesa, Henn was the catalyst behind SDSU's return to national prominence, with the Aztecs earning a No. 3 AVCA ranking for four weeks during the 1991 campaign before finishing the year at No. 5.
In 2011, Henn was the recipient of USA Volleyball's All-Time Greatest Players Award and was among a group of 14 honorees scheduled to be inducted into the Southern California Indoor Volleyball Hall of Fame in May 2020.