Rich Herrin (April 6, 1933 – December 25, 2020) was a top collegiate basketball coach in America. From 2012 to 2014, he coached collegiately at

Morthland College Morthland College (MC) was a private Christian liberal arts college in West Frankfort, Illinois. The school was founded in 2009 by Dr. Tim Morthland and opened in 2011 as a small, co-educational liberal arts college. The college had an initial enr ...

, as well as the

Southern Illinois University Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois. Board of trustees The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of Tr ...

Salukis men's basketball team from 1985 to 1998. He was one of the most successful high school basketball coaches in Illinois history, at Benton High School (Rangers), where he coached numerous renowned players, including former NBA and Olympic star, Doug Collins, Saint Louis University Walk-On Legend "Jumpin" Joe Durham, as well as former Georgia Tech great, Richard Yunkus. After SIU, he coached at Marion for some time before retiring in 2007. He returned to coaching again in 2012 to start up the Morthland College men's basketball program. Herrin was the son of a Methodist minister in

Bridgeport, Illinois Bridgeport is a city in Lawrence County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,886 at the 2010 census. History Bridgeport was established in the mid-1850s as a stop along the Ohio and Mississippi Railway. It was named by a railroad o ...

. He played high school basketball on multiple weeknights except Wednesdays, the evening many Christian churches hold midweek services. Rich won 7 varsity letters in high school and 11 letters at

McKendree College McKendree University (McK) is a private university in Lebanon, Illinois. Founded in 1828 as the Lebanon Seminary, it is the oldest college or university in Illinois. McKendree enrolls approximately 2,300 undergraduates and nearly 700 graduate ...

in Lebanon. Rich had four undefeated teams in regular season play – 1966, 1967, 1971 and 1975. His Benton teams won 8 South Seven conference championships and finished second twice. Three Ranger teams advanced to the Elite 8 and four others lost in a photo finish. Herrin died on December 25, 2020, at age 87.

College head coaching record

References

1933 births 2020 deaths American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players High school basketball coaches in the United States McKendree Bearcats men's basketball players Southern Illinois Salukis men's basketball coaches {{US-basketball-coach-stub