Fairleigh Dickinson University has announced that head men’s basketball coach Greg Herenda has signed a contract extension to remain at the helm of the Northeast Conference Champion Knights through the 2020-21 season.
“I am extremely excited, thankful and appreciative of this commitment to me and my family by President Christopher Capuano, Metropolitan Campus Provost Robert Vodde, Director of Athletics David Langford and the entire university. We have accomplished so much in just three years and we are still improving and growing as a program. I am very honored and happy to call Fairleigh Dickinson my home,” Herenda said on Thursday afternoon.
“Winning the NEC Championship this year and going to the NCAA Tournament is just the beginning for this program. We just had our second consecutive semester with a GPA above 3.0, we graduated three players and the core of our team are still juniors and sophomores – the sky is the limit here.”
The 2015-16 academic year was a huge success for the Knights, capturing the 2016 NEC Championship on the court and earning the NEC’s Team GPA Award for their performance in the classroom. The Knights were also active in the community, specifically with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Lodi and Hackensack.
“Greg has brought a new energy, professionalism and a sense of pride to our campus,” Director of Athletics David Langford said on Thursday afternoon. “I look forward to watching the team continue to mature and build on this year’s successes.”
The resurgence of FDU men’s basketball under Herenda has included 36 victories over three seasons, which culminated in 18 wins and a championship in 2016. FDU’s success led to Herenda being named NABC UPS Division I District 18 Coach of the Year following the season.
Over his three seasons at FDU, Herenda has helped four student-athletes earn All-NEC honors, three NABC All-District selections and two Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association All-Met selections. Two players, Sidney Sanders and Earl Potts Jr. (Severn, Md./Archbishop Spalding ), have also earned NEC Most Improved Player honors under Herenda’s guidance.
After finishing second in the 2015-16 NEC regular season the Knights hosted and won quarterfinal and semifinal matchups with Saint Francis U and Mount St. Mary’s, respectively, before going on the road to beat top-seeded Wagner in the NEC Championship game.
The 18 wins and 11 NEC wins are the most by a FDU squad since the 2005-06 season and the NEC Tournament title and NCAA Tournament berths are the first for FDU since the 2005 season.
During his first year (2013-14) in Hackensack, Herenda returned the Knights to the Northeast Conference Tournament for the first time since 2010. He tripled FDU’s conference win total during his first season and became the first head coach in the Garden State since December 1987 to defeat both Rutgers and Seton Hall in the same season.
Herenda was introduced as the seventh head coach in program history on Friday, April 26, 2013. He came to FDU after serving as the head coach at UMass Lowell from 2008-2013, where he posted a record of 95-56 (.629) en route to becoming the program’s all-time winningest coach. Herenda has also served as head coach at Division III Cabrini College and Elgin Community College. Across all levels he has a career record of 161-138 over 10 seasons.
A veteran of college basketball coaching, Herenda has more than 30 year of experience including stops at East Carolina, Seton Hall, Yale, Holy Cross, UMass Lowell and Merrimack – his alma mater.
Herenda, who is a native of North Bergen, N.J. and played for legendary coach Jerome Halligan at St. Peter’s Prep in Jersey City, N.J., has a coaching path that has taken him to the Big East, Conference USA, the Ivy League and the Patriot League though the years, and his teams have won multiple conference championships, as well as appearing in both the NCAA and NIT Tournaments.
Off the court, Herenda has worked as a television broadcaster for YES Network’s coverage of Ivy League basketball games and he currently hosts his own radio show – The Greg Herenda Show – on WFDU.
A four-year player at Merrimack, Herenda still holds the school record for assists in a game (22) and shares the record for the single-season average (9.0). He graduated in 1983 and earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration and marketing.
Herenda currently resides in Bergen County with his wife, Jillene, and his son, Trey.
http://fduknights.com/news/2016/6/30/mens-basketball-herenda-signs-five-year-extension.aspx
