As of right now, all we've heard about Phil Henderson is that he died in the Philippines. We don't know yet what happened or anything about the circumstances. It's just very sad. He was just 44.
The main source for this is Robert Brickey's Facebook page, but we expect Robert would know and know before most people.
Henderson was best remembered for his amazing dunk over Alonzo Mourning, but what's less remembered now is that this was just four years after Patrick Ewing left and Georgetown was still seen as a very intimidating team. Mourning had blocked 27 shots in a single high school game, so everyone expected the dynasty to roll right along.
As much as anything, as much as a single play could, Henderson's dunk shattered that image. Much like Billy King did to Mark Macon, Mourning's reputation never fully recovered, nor did Georgetown's.
It's important to remember that while Duke was rising, no one knew what was to come: Duke was not yet hated and feared.
Henderson had one other key bit in his Duke legacy: before the 1990 tournament, it might have been during or right after the ACC Tournament, he called his teammates out.
Specifically he called them babies.
It seemed at the time like something that could break a team. Instead it galvanized them. Henderson's bluntness helped get that team to the Final Four.
There's a lot more to Phil Henderson's life and most of us know very little. We hope he was happy and fulfilled and we wish his family the very best. Losing someone is never easy.
This is also the third recent loss for the Duke basketball family, all before their time: Art Heyman, Tom Emma and now Henderson.