A fixture in southern Illinois basketball will soon be back on the court as Rich Herrin has been named Morthland College’s first-ever men’s basketball coach.Herrin was introduced Monday at the West Frankfort college, and says he’s up to the challenge of coaching as well as helping young men realize their educational and athletic dreams. Herrin says he’s already working on building both a coaching staff and a team… and they’ll take to the court next season. The team will play “home” games mainly in West Frankfort, but as scheduling works out some might be played elsewhere in the region.
Herrin says his recruits in some cases are looking for another chance to get started on their education – and that’s an opportunity he’s happy to give them. “But you give a guy a second, or even a third chance to be successful. What baggage he’s had, you don’t check it… you just don’t worry about it. You just get him started out- and that’s the way it oughtta be.”
Herrin most recently coached high school ball at Marion. He’s well known for his leadership of SIU’s Men’s Basketball program from 1985-1998… during which time he took the team to the NCAA Tournament Three times and collected three MVC Conference titles.
Coach Herrin says his Morthland College team will focus on the run and shoot style he’s run for decades: “If they want to play that style, they’ve got to work harder than anybody else. They’ve got to be conditioned… they’ve got to run up and down the court. And here’s what I’m going to tell them: You can take a bad shot, and if you go rebound, that doesn’t bother me. You can take a good shot, and stand there and watch, and that bothers me. You’ve gotta rebound, that’s all there is to it.”
Herrin had more than 200 wins while at SIU, and has racked up hundreds more wins at high schools all over the region. He says being able to offer this opportunity to athletes who might not otherwise get it is a great feeling and he’s ready to bring more wins to the region.