Aggies’ Henson Not Ready to Return

New Mexico State Coach Lou Henson was hospitalized Thursday with pneumonia, and he won’t return to the sideline this weekend in a wheelchair as planned.

Henson, stricken in September with viral encephalitis, was scheduled to coach for the first time this season Saturday night when New Mexico State (4-8) plays host to North Texas.

“We expect him to make a full recovery, but he’s obviously not coming on the bench this weekend,” school spokesman Sean Johnson said Thursday.

Henson, who will turn 73 on Monday, was to attend practice Thursday afternoon but became ill and went to a Las Cruces hospital, Johnson said.

Henson is 21 wins short of becoming only the fifth Division I coach with 800 career victories.

The viral encephalitis -- an acute inflammatory disease of the brain -- caused paralysis in his right leg. He’s still unable to walk on his own because he has only slight movement in that leg.