FDU Men's Basketball Coach Talks Sports and Leadership

Steve Adubato goes One-on-One with Greg Herenda, Head Coach, Fairleigh Dickinson University Men’s Basketball, who discusses sports and leadership and describes how he overcame a recent health scare to lead his Knights to their first NCAA Tournament game win.

9/19/19 #2245

Excerpt:

"There he is on camera! Greg Herenda. He's the head coach at Fairleigh Dickinson University men's basketball team. And they are called the what? The Knights. The Knights? The Knights. The... what are you...? Look at you pointing over here. By the way, here it is, it's FDU, and because this is PBS, no disrespect... You gotta put it...? That's okay. We're not... Patti, could you take this? We cannot plug, we don't plug... We got the plug in, but... That's it. No. We are on the FDU Knights in Hackensack and Teaneck campus. You took over 2013? Yes I did. And you guys went to the dance, the big dance of 64? Yes. When? 2016 was the first time. It was my third year. We had the third youngest team in America. And Steve, it kind of came out of nowhere. The previous year we lost 15 straight basketball games. 15. But we had good players, good young kids. We were changing the culture. And then we won it. And we went to Dayton, Ohio and played Florida Gulf Coast, and it didn't go well. And we lost our first round. And our goal was to get back. And we just got back in 2019. And we got to Dayton and won a game. And it was this first victory in the school's history in the NCAA tournament. And here I sit. A very lucky, lucky man. A lucky coach. For those who have never experienced the NCAA tournament other than being fans...? Yes. We're Seton Hall fans. I just need to disclose that. True. True. I know you know that. And you have a connection to Seton Hall? Yeah. I was an assistant there for three years. With the great George Blaney? The legendary George Blaney. And I hired Grant Billmeier, who's the assistant now for Kevin. That's right. And Bruce Hamburger is my associate head coach. So there's this lineage. You got a connection? So here's the thing. Yes. For those of us who don't really know how exciting it is? Being at the game? Yes. It's more than you think. It is? It's not...? No. It's more. It's more than what you think it is? It's more. It's more. Because? Because you work your whole life, and for that moment, and they talk about the one shining moment, and it's not only the team that wins it. It's for every player that participates, and every fan that follows, and every coach that dreams. And you just can't sleep. You can't. Because you're in an elite group, and it's just very exciting. It's rewarding. It's exciting. It's so... But put it in perspective. Sorry for interrupting. Yeah. 64 teams. How many teams in the country play? Well it's actually 64 teams. 60...? Plus..."