He has taken over the house, and he's not going to move out anytime soon.

No eating on the dining room table -- his folders are covering it.

No walking through the living room -- his film clips are lined up in the living room.

And the indomitable spirit of this house guest permeates the whole place.

Yeah, the Emmy Award-winning Huntington film-making couple John Witek and Deb Novak have made more than a little room in their house, their hearts and their lives for the legacy of the late great Marshall basketball and football coach Cam Henderson.

Henderson racked up a record 362 basketball wins during a dual coaching career (basketball and football) from 1935 to 1955.

Set to be premiered during next year's basketball season, The Cam Henderson Story has been an odyssey that has taken the couple to a dozen different universities throughout the United States to dig up rare film footage, photos and information about the coaching legend who invented the fast break in basketball and the zone defense, which he used in football and basketball.

Photo by Toril Lavender for The Herald-Dispatch Actors bring to life an early 1900s scene of Cam Henderson teaching basketball to children for the documentary in this 2004 photo.

Armed with editor Eric Himes of Marshall, the couple is boiling down the thousands of photos, rare footage of MU basketball and football and the priceless interviews and threading them into an hour long narrative.

"I think a lot of people are struck by why it is taking us so long," Novak said. "Well, there are two of us, and we don't have a staff. We are working in very limited hours of editing available to us."

That said, the couple, which has produced such documentary films as "Ashes to Glory" (about the Marshall plane crash), "Hearts of Glass: The Story of Blenko Handcraft" and "Blenko Retro," is pleased with the progress on the Henderson documentary, which showcases some of the greatest moments in Marshall sports history.

"Just in case you wondered, he is Marshall's greatest coach," said Witek, whose voice is heard on this film as well. "I think I ask myself every day what does he really mean, and as far as Marshall is concerned, no one comes close to him. He did more with less than any other coach in Marshall history."

Novak said the idea for "Cam" actually came about when they were filming "Ashes to Glory" and she was interviewing Sam Clagg, Marshall historian and the author of the 1981 book "The Cam Henderson Story: His Life and Times."

"When we started talking to Sam, it reminded us that this story needs to be told as well," Novak said. " 'The Cam Henderson Story' is a wonderful story about all the things that the man did and all of the lives that he touched."

Novak said Clagg (who played for Henderson) and Ernie Salvatore (Herald-Dispatch sports columnist and a former sports editor) provide the cornerstone interviews for the documentary, which features many of Henderson's players as well as his last living relative.

"Sam wrote the book, and it is wonderful, and we use that as our guide," Novak said. "We are deeply indebted to him. He is a cartographer, and he really made us a map that has helped us in deciphering the story of Cam Henderson."

Like in "Ashes" when Novak was able to interview Nate Ruffin before he died, a couple of players interviewed for this documentary have also since passed away.

Herndon Wilks was Cam's oldest player and came to Marshall in the fall of 1935. Jim Plybon played in the Tangerine Bowl in 1947. Plybon was also the largest player in the country at the time, weighing in at about 330 pounds.

Witek said one of the most compelling things about the now-being-assembled film is the spirit of Henderson and his players to overcome poverty and make something great out of nothing -- and not be boastful about it.

"He coached the greatest generation, and a big part of his story is the players that Cam had to work with," Witek said, "These are the people that survived the Depression and that won the World War and that rebuilt the world -- that is the material that he had to work with. You look at these guys, and they are lighter and no where near as strong as players today, but they have a greatness about them, and that is true of the whole generation. We have interviews with these guys, and they are modest, and they are humble. This is before everybody in America wanted to be a star."

Like "Blenko Retro" captured the palpable energy of post-war America, so does "Cam Henderson Story." One sequence shows Cam's wild and woolly ball teams that dazzled Kansas City in 1947 with Globetrotter-esque ball-handling and blistering fast breaks.

Novak can't wait until their music team (composer and music professor Jay Flippin and engineer Denny Chandler) get together to bring musical life to some of those scenes.

"I am going to have a very fast big band sequence with the 1947 scene," Novak said. "I am going to equate jitter bug dancing with Marshall ballhandling and see how that works. It is similar."

Like "Ashes to Glory" and the Blenko films, Witek and Novak hope to have the "Cam Henderson Story" aired on PBS stations throughout the nation. Like they did for "Ashes," they will put out a special DVD packed with extras.

They also want to have a few folks in Springfield, Mass., see the film, as they are working in conjunction with Marshall to again petition the Basketball Hall of Fame on Henderson's behalf.

"We are now able to really substantiate his contributions, and we have put that into a neat package with days and dates and place," Novak said. "I think we will get the backing to be able to approach Springfield, Mass., again. A lot of others have gotten credit for what Cam did, and we want to set that record straight."