Former players praise Watson Chapel’s Henderson

Hearing that her high school basketball coach will retire at the end of the school year, Jennifer Barbaree let out a distinct sound of sadness.

“I know, yes,” she responded slowly when asked if she knew about Leslie Henderson’s upcoming departure as Watson Chapel’s girls basketball coach after 32 seasons leading the program and 35 years in the district.

“I heard about it through our alumni Facebook page,” Barbaree, now the Pine Bluff School District superintendent, said. “It’s just an honor to have been one of her players. She made a huge influence in my life, so I know she made a huge influence on others as well.”

Many of Henderson’s athletes moved on to compete on the collegiate level, including Zedralyn Butler. The 2001 Watson Chapel graduate went on to Tyler Junior College and stayed in east Texas to play at Stephen F. Austin State University.

“I don’t know if you can put a word to how much she impacted me as a person and a basketball player,” said Butler, a Department of Human Services employee and event coordinator who also helps players transition to and from college. “I guess I can speak to both of the coaches because Coach Byrd raised me and I’ll tell you about Coach Henderson, even though it’s the same person.”

Barbaree and Butler shared a theme of influence when talking about Henderson, who was known as Leslie Byrd early in her coaching years.

“I can’t think of anyone to put above her in that respect,” Butler said. “Girls basketball was never a big thing in Pine Bluff, and she made it a thing.”

The reason Butler said she drew much praise from her college coaches in media guides is her fundamental set, which she attributes to Henderson’s teaching.

“She had us so disciplined in a militant style, she gained so much respect from us,” Butler said. “It’s incredible to say, even people who did not play basketball, they respected her so much, and they weren’t really affiliated with her. She pushed me. She made me upset at times, but she did it out of love. She’s always been there for me.”

Then Coach Byrd, she was the only high school coach among her Tyler and SFA teammates to watch her play, Butler said, while she was still running a program at Watson Chapel.

A few years later, Byrd became Henderson.

“Now, I’m an adult, and there’s not one thing that I couldn’t ask her,” Butler said. “Even now, as a businesswoman, when I want to put things together, I always call on Coach Byrd or Coach Henderson and ask her, what do you think about this? She has always supported me in everything I’ve done.”

Henderson and Butler have organized an “old school vs. new school” basketball game to benefit a scholarship fund.

“There’s nothing I can’t ask her and I can’t have her full support on,” Butler continued.

Barbaree played basketball and competed in track and field under Henderson through junior high and high school, graduating in 1999. Then known as Jennifer Wallace, she moved up to the high school track team as a freshman and competed on Watson Chapel’s first state championship squad that year. The 4×400-meter runner-turned-shot putter and discus thrower won two more team titles as a junior and senior.

“Everybody thought I was going to be a coach,” said Barbaree, a former basketball center. “I was with Coach Byrd the whole time. She was such a huge influence in my life since seventh grade. I didn’t want to be a coach. She was so tough and so dedicated, it was just something I didn’t know if I could have her spirit because she was so tough. She kept us in our place, and she would be the one that held us to a high standard. No one else held me to a high standard like she did.”

Barbaree’s choice to go into teaching served her well, obviously. She became a principal at Watson Chapel School District’s Edgewood Elementary and has been a superintendent in Armorel schools, and worked in the Arkansas Department of Education’s Office of Coordinated Support Services before taking over as PBSD superintendent in January 2023.

Before then, Jennifer Wallace was one of many future leaders Henderson molded on the court and on the track.

“She was a person who taught me, no matter what is going on in your life, no matter what is going on anywhere else, there was no excuse,” Barbaree said. “You had to get out there and perform. It’s what you do. You’re a teammate. You’re a player. No matter what. We played sick. We played healthy. We played with family problems. We got there at 5:30 in the morning. We ran. We practiced. We lifted weights after practice. There was no excuse. We did it all.”