Hall of Fame
John Henderson is the inaugural inductee and recipient of the Silver Saxon Award.
The Silver Saxon Award was created in 2018 to honor student-athletes from early eras (40 years prior to today) at Alfred University for outstanding athletic achievement, but may lack statistical information that puts nominees at a significant disadvantage when assessing them against contemporary student-athletes. Consideration for the Silver Saxon Award will include conventional aspects of the Hall of Fame selection process with the addition of reference and first-hand accounts of a student-athletes’ impact on the field of play.
Henderson was a four-year football and golf player at AU where he played under legendary coach Alex Yunevich. Henderson contributed to a 26-7 overall record for the football team during his tenure playing with the Saxons, winning the Lambert Bowl in 1971 and another Independent College Athletic Conference (ICAC) Championship in 1972. On the golf course, Henderson carried a handicap of four throughout his career while serving as the #1 player on the Saxon golf team.
AU Hall of Famer from the 1982 induction class and former AU Athletic Director, Jim Moretti ‘72 cited in his letter of recommendation, “I’ll end with this short story told to me by Gregg Maurer. Gregg was struggling with his (golf) game his senior year and asked Coach Yunevich for advice on his swing and stance. ‘Don’t ask me - go over there and ask Henderson for some pointers.’ Yunevich said. “Henderson was a freshman at the time.”
