kaitlin barr/editor in chiefGreg Herenda knew he was meant to be at Cabrini when he felt a strong connection to a familiar building on campus.
Two days prior to visiting campus for the first time, Herenda attended his mother’s funeral, a very hard time for him as he and his mother were very close. While driving onto campus in his mother’s car, the first building in Herenda’s sight was Grace Hall. He immediately felt this was a connection to his mother Grace.
Originally from North Bergen, NJ, Herenda now resides with his wife Jill and his five-year-old son Trey in Ardmore, PA.
Herenda brings over 20 years of coaching experience to the Cavaliers basketball program. He attended and played at Merrimack College in Massachusetts, a sister school of local Villanova University.
“I love the game of basketball and I especially love teaching it,” Herenda said.
Other colleges he has coached at include Division II National Champions, University of Lowell and Division I schools, College of the Holy Cross, Seton Hall University, Yale University and East Carolina University.
Primarily a defensive coach, Herenda brings his experiences to Cabrini in hopes of pointing the program in the right direction.
He promised that the young men on the team would be working very hard to change the culture of the program.
“In order to have a successful basketball program, the players must be good students and work hard,” Herenda said.
During the month of July, Herenda spoke to over 1,000 campers at the Jim Calhoun Basketball Camp at the University of Connecticut for the third consecutive summer. Herenda also conducted drills with the young athletes ranging from ages nine to 18.
He has also recently lectured at basketball camps at Archbishop Ryan High School, Marple-Newtown High School and Lower Merion High School. Herenda enjoys attending camps in order to be an ambassador for the college and the program. He is also working to reach out to the students in order to get more attendance at games this season.
“I guarantee the students will enjoy themselves at the games because the players will play extremely hard for them. Trust me, it will be exciting,” Herenda said.
Herenda is excited to be moving ahead with the Cavaliers basketball program and is currently looking for one more assistant coach.
“We are going to be working very hard and winning will be a by-product of that,” Herenda said. “It’s going to take time and work, but it’s going to happen.”
