Road Trip

By Greg Herenda

It’s like riding a bike…

When I was a young boy, I loved to ride my bike all over the neighborhoods in North Bergen, New Jersey. It always gave me a sense of freedom, excitement and adventure. At first,  I had to stay on our block which was fine. Then you were allowed to go around the the block, but when you could finally go from 79th street up to 92nd. Now that was a game changer.  You could ride to every basketball court and wiffle-ball field in all of up uptown - the world was now my oyster then and it still is now.

At 65 years young I feel exactly the same way about the entire east coast. I recently loaded up my vehicle and pointed it north towards all of my former assistants, family and friends. Yes -  there is a method to my madness, but I just love the madness of the underbelly of basketball and that is the fall  practices of college basketball where championships are formed.

So for the last 10 days, I’ve been traveling, just like a kid on a bike, stopping at different universities to see so many friends. I was able to visit  arenas, practice facilities in 7 different conferences. From the Atlantic 10, the Big East, the Metro, NEC,, CACC, the MEAC and the USA South Conference in good ole Rocky Mount North Carolina. 

One interesting note along my journey was just how hard it is to enter everyone’s practice facility and the door to the gym itself.  Living life post 9/11 has not only made airports impossible to navigate but college basketball as well. And the key to going to all these practices is to find the correct door that will allow you to get into the gymnasium itself. Once you figure it out and find the magic door and you open it you walk into basketball heaven. 

Upon entering - the whistles are blowing, the sneakers are squeaking, the players are sweating and the competitive juices jump off of the reversible practice gear, regardless of the conference, the team or the program. I was privileged enough to be a witness to 10 great practices in 10 days in 4 different states and our nations capital. 

Just about all of the schedules are set, the pre season polls are in but the teams are still implementing their defensive packages, offensive sets , the personnel rotations. The end results will wind up during championship week in March but trust me the champions are being formed on a day in day out basis in a practice gym near you. 

To see these programs in their embryonic stages in September was a privilege and an honor, and on a personal note, to see my former assistants become head coaches at NJIT, Central Conn and Post University  and an assistant at VCU gave me a tremendous amount of pride. This trip was worth all of the miles, tolls, traffic etc… But honestly it was like riding my bike!

Northern most point I visited .. Post University in Waterbury, Ct Head Coach Marc Kuntz

Special thank you to all of the coaches, players, managers and administrators who allowed me take a glimpse into their greatness. Trust me it was worth the trip!

Davidson 

Virginia Commonwealth 

Howard University

Georgetown 

Saint Joseph’s Hawks 

NJIT

Seton Hall Pirates Women 

Fairfield Stags

Central Connecticut Blue Devils 

Post Eagles 

North Carolina Wesleyan Bishops

I wish all of these programs the best of luck and thank them for allowing me to share a glimpse into their world, their future and their homes. 

Peace !