Greg Herenda (born April 2, 1961) is an American basketball coach and former player. He was most recently an assistant coach at Elon. He is the former head coach of the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights men's basketball team. and previously served as the head coach at UMass Lowell.
Biography Herenda grew up in North Bergen, New JerseyPelzman, 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." and played high school basketball at St. Peter's Preparatory School.Hague, Jim. "Tasty Tidbits: North Bergen native Herenda tabbed as new FDU hoops coach; Union City baseball team recovers from slow start" , 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."
Coaching career
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. This coaching performance earned him NABC District 18 Coach of the Year honors. Herenda and Fairleigh Dickinson parted ways following the 2021-22 season, in which the team went 4-22.
Head coaching record
College
References