Tom Herrion (born November 13, 1967) is an American

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

assistant coach for

South Florida South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the Regions of the United States#Florida, southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are ...

. He also previously served as head basketball coach at

Marshall University Marshall University is a public university, public research university in Huntington, West Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States, chief justice of the Uni ...

and at the

College of Charleston The College of Charleston (CofC or Charleston) is a public university in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1770 and chartered in 1785, it is the oldest university in South Carolina, the 13th-oldest institution of higher lea ...

Personal life

Born in

Oxford, Massachusetts Oxford is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 13,347 as of the 2020 United States Census. It was the birthplace of Clara Barton, the first president and founder of the American Red Cross. History Pre-Co ...

, Herrion was a three-year letterwinner in both basketball and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

at Oxford High School. He graduated in 1985. Herrion received his bachelor's degree in psychology from

Merrimack College Merrimack College is a Private university, private Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian university in North Andover, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1947 by the Order of St. Augustine with an initial goal to educate World War II veterans. It en ...

in 1989. As an undergrad at Merrimack, he competed in both basketball and baseball and worked as a student assistant coach in 1986–87. He also served two seasons as the junior varsity coach at Cambridge Ridge and Latin High School in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

. Herrion hails from a coaching family. His father, the late Jim Herrion, was a successful high school coach in the New York City Catholic League before becoming an assistant coach at Holy Cross and later the head coach at

Worcester Polytechnic Institute The Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) is a Private university, private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1865, WPI was one of the United States' first engineering and technology universities and now h ...

. His older brother Bill Herrion is currently the head basketball coach at the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire, United States. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant coll ...

(2005–present). Bill has also served head coaching stints at both East Carolina (1999–2005) and

Drexel University Drexel University is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony Joseph Drexel, Anthony J. Drexel, a financier ...

(1991–99).

Coaching career

Herrion's collegiate coaching experience includes assistant stints at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

(1999–2002),

Providence College Providence College is a Private university, private Roman Catholic university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1917 by the Dominican Order and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, it offers 47 undergraduate Academic ...

(1994–98) and NCAA Division II Merrimack College (1989–94). He spent eight seasons under

Pete Gillen Peter Joseph Gillen (born June 20, 1947) is an American former college basketball head coach of the Division I Providence Friars and Virginia Cavaliers and is a member of the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame. Gillen is currently a college ...

at both Virginia and Providence. In his four seasons at Virginia, Herrion helped Gillen orchestrate a 70–50 (58%) record and three postseason appearances. His main responsibilities included recruitment of student-athletes, scheduling and scouting of opponents and assisting with practice planning and game preparation. Additionally, the Cavaliers' recruiting classes were ranked among the nation's top-10 in three of his four seasons with the program. At Providence under Gillen, the Friars put together a 72–53 (58%) four-year record including a berth in the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight and two NIT appearances. Herrion also served as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Merrimack College, from 1989 to 1994. During that time, he helped guide Merrimack to two NCAA Division II tournament appearances.

College of Charleston

As a head coach, Herrion spent four seasons at the

. From 2002 to 2006, he compiled an 80–38 (68%) four-year record, earned a national top-25 ranking, guided his team to the 2003 National Invitation Tournament and achieved the best winning percentage in the Southern Conference during that period. His first Cougar team in 2002–03 finished 25–8, captured the

Great Alaska Shootout The Great Alaska Shootout is an annual women's college basketball tournament in Anchorage, Alaska that features host University of Alaska Anchorage and three visiting NCAA Division I teams. The four-team tournament resumed in 2022 following a ...

title and advanced to the NIT. His 25 victories marked the highest total of any first-year NCAA Division I head coach during the 2002–03 season. Herrion also guided the Cougars to a 20–9 finish in 2003–04, an 18–10 performance in 2004–05, and a 17–11 record in 2005–06.

University of Pittsburgh

In the spring of 2007, Herrion arrived at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

as an assistant to head coach Jamie Dixon. He was later promoted to the position of associate head coach at Pittsburgh, where his main responsibilities included recruiting student-athletes, game preparation and on-floor coaching. Herrion assisted head coach Dixon in leading Pitt to the NCAA tournament during his three-year stint at the school that included a run to the "Elite Eight" in 2009, a year that saw the Panthers earn their first-ever #1 rankings in the AP Poll and Coaches' Poll, their first-ever victories over a #1 ranked team (UConn, twice), and their first-ever #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament (East Region). During the 2007–08 season, Pitt also won the Big East tournament. In the 2009–10 season, Herrion's final year as an assistant at Pitt, they lost to Notre Dame in their first Big East tournament game, and concluded the season in the NCAA Tournament with a second-round loss to Xavier.

Marshall University

Herrion was announced on April 10, 2010 as the 28th head coach of men's basketball at

. In 2012, Herrion coached the Thundering Herd to the

National Invitational Tournament The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...

for the first time since 1988. On March 14, 2014, Marshall announced it had bought out the remaining two years of Herrion's contract. Herrion went 67–67 in four seasons, but just 24–41 in his final two years. Marshall Athletic Director Mike Hamrick said "We just didn't win enough games." Herrion's buyout was around $550,000.

Georgia Tech

On September 18, 2014, Herrion was hired by Georgia Tech head coach Brian Gregory as an assistant coach.

TCU

On July 21, 2016, Herrion was hired by TCU head coach Jamie Dixon as a special assistant.

South Florida

On April 5, 2017, Herrion was once again hired by Gregory as an assistant coach, this time for South Florida.Herrion Named USF Men's Basketball Assistant Coach
gousfbulls.com. April 5, 2017.

Broadcasting career

Herrion spent the 2006–07 year working as a television commentator for both ESPN Regional and

Comcast Comcast Corporation, formerly known as Comcast Holdings,Before the AT&T Broadband, AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation, not th ...

, providing analysis for

Conference USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas. Mem ...

games. He also worked as a collegiate player development consultant at the

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine giv ...

All-American Camp and

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player, who is currently a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Ass ...

Flight School before becoming the assistant head coach at Pittsburgh.

Head coaching record

References