Greg Herenda (born April 2, 1961) is an American basketball coach and former player. He is currently an assistant coach at Elon.[1] He is the former head coach of the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights men's basketball team.[2] and previously served as the head coach at UMass Lowell.[3]

Greg Herenda
Current position
TitleAssistant coach
TeamElon
ConferenceCAA
Biographical details
Born (1961-04-02) April 2, 1961 (age 63)
North Bergen, New Jersey, U.S.
Playing career
1980–1983Merrimack College
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1985–1989Merrimack (asst.)
1989–1994Holy Cross (asst.)
1994–1997Seton Hall (asst.)
1997–1999Yale (asst.)
1999–2005East Carolina (asst.)
2006–2007Elgin CC
2007–2008Cabrini
2008–2013UMass Lowell
2013–2022Fairleigh Dickinson
2022–presentElon (asst.)
Head coaching record
Overall230–243 (.486)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
NE-10 tournament championship (2010)
2x NEC tournament championships (2016, 2019)
Awards
NABC District 18 Coach of the Year (2016)

Biography

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Herenda grew up in North Bergen, New Jersey[4] and played high school basketball at St. Peter's Preparatory School.[5]

Coaching career

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After playing at Merrimack College, where he set the single game record for assists in a game with 22, Herenda joined the Warriors coaching staff, where he stayed for four seasons before joining the staff at Holy Cross. He also had stints as an assistant with Seton Hall, Yale, and East Carolina before landing his first head coaching job at Elgin Community College in 2006–07.

In his one and only season with ECC, Herenda guided the team to an 18–11 record, helping the squad reach the Region IV District B Junior College Championship game for the first time in school history. After a one-year stop as the head coach of Division III Cabrini College, Herenda was hired at UMass Lowell, where he led the team to a 21–8 record and second-place finish in the Northeast-10 Conference. It sparked a run of four-straight appearances in the NCAA Men's Division II Basketball Championship, averaging 19 wins per season in his first five years at the helm.

On April 24, 2013, Herenda accepted the head coaching job at Fairleigh Dickinson, replacing Greg Vetrone. In his third year with Fairleigh Dickinson, Herenda coached a team that started no upperclassmen, (four sophomores and one freshman) to the school's first Northeast Conference Championship since 2005.[6] This coaching performance earned him NABC District 18 Coach of the Year honors.[7]

Head coaching record

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College

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Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Elgin C.C. (Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference) (2006–2007)
2006–07 Elgin CC 18–11 N/A N/A
Elgin CC: 18–11 (.621) N/A
Cabrini College (Colonial States Athletic Conference) (2007–2008)
2007–08 Cabrini 12–14 N/A N/A
Cabrini: 12–14 (.462) N/A
UMass Lowell (Northeast-10 Conference) (2008–2013)
2008–09 UMass Lowell 21–8 16–6 2nd NCAA Division II East Regional First Round
2009–10 UMass Lowell 20–12 13–9 7th NCAA Division II East Regional First Round
2010–11 UMass Lowell 20–10 14–8 6th NCAA Division III East Regional First Round
2011–12 UMass Lowell 19–11 13–9 4th NCAA Division II East Regional First Round
2012–13 UMass Lowell 15–13 10–12 8th
UMass Lowell: 95–54 (.638) 66–44 (.600)
Fairleigh Dickinson (Northeast Conference) (2013–2022)
2013–14 Fairleigh Dickinson 10–21 6–10 8th
2014–15 Fairleigh Dickinson 8–21 3–15 T–9th
2015–16 Fairleigh Dickinson 18–15 11–7 T–2nd NCAA Division I First Four
2016–17 Fairleigh Dickinson 11–19 9–9 T–5th
2017–18 Fairleigh Dickinson 13–18 9–9 T–6th
2018–19 Fairleigh Dickinson 21–14 12–6 T–1st NCAA Division I First Round
2019–20 Fairleigh Dickinson 11–19 9–9 T–5th
2020–21 Fairleigh Dickinson 9–15 8–10 8th
2021–22 Fairleigh Dickinson 4–22 5–13 T–8th
Fairleigh Dickinson: 105–164 (.390) 72–88 (.450)
Total: 230–243 (.486)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

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  1. ^ "Taylor Announces Addition of Greg Herenda To Coaching Staff" (Press release). Elon Phoenix. June 29, 2022. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  2. ^ "FDU chooses Greg Herenda as new head men's basketball coach". April 24, 2013.
  3. ^ "UMass Lowell - Coaching Staff". Archived from the original on December 8, 2014. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
  4. ^ Pelzman, J.P. "FDU's Greg Herenda makes believers of his players, then leads them to NCAAs", The Record (Bergen County), March 12, 2016. Accessed March 29, 2016. "When Greg Herenda was a teenager growing up in North Bergen, he and his brother Bill and their friends would play on an outdoor court across the street from their house."
  5. ^ Hague, Jim. "Tasty Tidbits: North Bergen native Herenda tabbed as new FDU hoops coach; Union City baseball team recovers from slow start" Archived 2016-04-10 at the Wayback Machine, Hudson Reporter, April 28, 2013. Accessed March 29, 2016. "Herenda, who grew up in North Bergen, playing basketball at St. Peter’s Prep and later Merrimack College, said that it was tough to leave Lowell."
  6. ^ "Men's Basketball vs Wagner on 3/8/2016 - Box Score".
  7. ^ "#NECMBB Lands 10 on NABC All-District 18 Teams, Herenda Named Coach of the Year". northeastconference.org. Retrieved April 18, 2016.