One of the most successful coaches in Meadville high school athletics has called it quits.

In an anticipated move, Dean Henderson confirmed his retirement as Meadville’s head girls basketball coach Wednesday. Henderson submitted his letter of resignation last week, which is pending approval by the Crawford Central School Board at its next meeting.

“It was not an easy decision,” said Henderson, who coached the Lady Bulldogs since 2002. “When you put that much time into something, it’s difficult.”

The time, however, was right.

Henderson, who retired initially in 1998 to spend more time with his sons, Matthew and Kyle, is retiring this time to follow his daughter, Abby in her collegiate basketball career at Penn State Behrend.

Abby, who was in seventh grade when Henderson took over the program at MASH, was a four-year starting point guard for her dad and the Bulldogs.

“Abby is going on to college,” Henderson said. “That was one of the main reasons. She is going to Behrend and trying to play at Behrend. And if she does get into sports, I want the opportunity to be able watch her.”

After 48 seasons of coaching — 35 as a head coach — over the last 36 years, Henderson certainly deserves that time.

Henderson concludes his basketball coaching career, which includes stints with four different programs, with a record of 441-253. He amassed a record of 97-57 in six seasons at Meadville for an average of 16 wins per season, helping to turn around a program that had just three winning seasons in over a decade.

This past season, the Lady Bulldogs went 20-8 and advanced to the District 10 championship game for the first time since the 2001-02 season.

“We’ve left every program better than it was when we picked it up,” Henderson said, referring to we as he and his coaching staffs. “We were fortunate enough to win championships at each of the schools and Meadville is no exception.”

And Henderson believes the Lady Bulldogs can continue their winning tradition even in his absence.

“The future is now,” Henderson said. “The bar has been set from the past alumni and it’s up to them to keep the bar where it’s at. There’s a good group of kids coming up through the program and they’ve seen what it takes.”

Henderson began his coaching career in 1972 as the head football coach at Venango Catholic and also became the school’s head boys basketball coach in 1973. He maintained both positions until 1978 when he moved to Meadville to become an assistant football coach at Allegheny College.

In 1981, Henderson, while still coaching at Allegheny, took over as the boys basketball coach at Saegertown. He resigned at Allegheny in 1985, but continued to coach at Saegertown until 1990 when he assumed the same position at Cambridge Springs.