Men's Basketball 4/9/2002 5:11:00 AM Southern Conference College of Charleston Names Herrion Basketball Coach Charleston, S.C. -- Tom Herrion, an assistant at the University ofVirginia the past four seasons, was named head men's basketball coach atthe College of Charleston on Tuesday. College of Charleston President LeeHigdon made the announcement at an 11 a.m. press conference at Alumni Hallon the school's campus. Herrion, 34, becomes the 20th head coach in College of Charleston men'sbasketball history succeeding John Kresse who retired on March 12th.Kresse led the Cougars to the most successful era in school historyfinishing his 23-year head coaching career with a 560-143 record. Herrion brings 13 years of coaching knowledge and academic excellenceafter assistant-coaching stints at Merrimack College, Providence andVirginia. Herrion served eight seasons as an assistant to coach Pete Gillen.Herrion spent four seasons as an assistant coach on Gillen's staff atProvidence College. During that time, the Friars compiled an overall recordof 72-53, advanced to the Elite Eight of the 1997 NCAA Tournament and madetwo NIT appearances. Over the past four seasons, Herrion helped Gillen orchestrate a 70-50record at Virginia and postseason appearances in each of the last threeseasons. Virginia finished this past season with a 17-13 record and anappearance in the NIT Tournament. Before going to Providence, Herrion was an assistant coach at his almamater, Merrimack College, from 1989-94. During that time, he helped leadMerrimack to two NCAA Division II tournament appearances. Herrion received his bachelor's degree from Merrimack in 1989. As anundergraduate at Merrimack, he was an assistant coach at Cambridge Rindgeand Latin High School in Cambridge, Mass., and head junior varsity coachfor two years (1987-89). Herrion was a student assistant coach at Merrimackduring the 1986-87 season. A native of Oxford, Mass., Herrion was athree-time letter winner in both basketball and baseball at Oxford HighSchool. As a senior at Oxford, he was a Southern Worcester County All-Star. His father, the late Jim Herrion, was a successful high school coachin New York City before becoming an assistant coach at Holy Cross and laterthe head coach at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. His older brother Billjust completed his third year as the head coach at East Carolina afterseven years as the head coach at Drexel. His other brother Jim is abasketball official in central Massachusetts.Herrion's Biography-at-a-GlanceBorn: November 13, 1967Education: Graduated from Oxford (Mass.) High School in 1985; received hisbachelor's degree from Merrimack College in 1989.Coaching Background: Student assistant coach, Merrimack College, 1986-87;assistant coach, Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School, 1987-89; assistantcoach, Merrimack College, 1989-94; assistant coach, Providence College,1994-1998; assistant coach, University of Virginia, 1999-2002.Herrion's Highlights as an Assistant CoachYEAR SCHOOL RECORD POSTSEASON1989-90 Merrimack College 15-151990-91 Merrimack College 21-9 NCAA (Division II)1991-92 Merrimack College 18-14 NCAA (Division II)1992-93 Merrimack College 11-161993-94 Merrimack College 11-171994-95 Providence 17-13 NIT1995-96 Providence 18-12 NIT1996-97 Providence 24-12 NCAA1997-98 Providence 13-161998-99 Virginia 14-161999-00 Virginia 19-12 NIT2000-01 Virginia 20-9 NCAA2001-02 Virginia 17-13 NITCareer 13 years 218-174 4 NCAA, 4 NITQuote From College of CharlestonMen's Basketball Coach Tom Herrion"I am tremendously honored to be the named the new head coach at theCollege of Charleston. I look forward to the great challenge of building onthe success that coach (John) Kresse has created. I am excited about thefuture of our basketball program."Quote From College of Charleston President Lee Higdon"Tom Herrion shares our strong commitment to the true student athleteconcept, where students are prepared to achieve on the court and in theclassroom. Of what I've learned of Tom, he has the leadership andprofessional skills to develop these students athletically and theintegrity to see that this does not occur at the expense of their academicperformance. It's a strikingly good match."Quotes From College of Charleston Athletics Director Jerry Baker"The College of Charleston is very fortunate that Tom Herrion has agreed tojoin our Cougar family. He is a dynamic coach and individual, and hiscommitment to excellence is simply outstanding. The College of Charleston,its student-athletes, fans and the Charleston community will benefit fromhis enthusiasm, experience and passion to compete."" I would personally like to express my appreciation to all thoseindividuals who assisted in this selection process."