Former Benton High School basketball coach Rich Herrin took over a downtrodden Southern Illinois University basketball program in 1985.

In the next 13 years, Herrin led the Salukis to two regular-season Missouri Valley Conference titles, three straight MVC tournament titles and three NCAA tournament appearances.

He won 225 games at SIU, second only to William McAndrew.

Those credentials landed Herrin in the MVC Hall of Fame on Wednesday. Formal induction ceremonies will take place March 5 during the MVC tournament at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.

"It has to make me feel very good," Herrin said. "This is an honor that doesn't happen to very many coaches. The fact is, the ones that have been elected before me are big-time coaches. I have to give our players credit. They hung tough for the first three years."

Elite company

Herrin's selection indeed places him in elite company. Some of the other coaches honored by the MVC include Henry Iba (Oklahoma A&M), John Wooden (Indiana State), Arad McCutcheon (Evansville) and Will Robinson (Illinois State).

"I won't say I was great friends with Mr. Iba and Mr. Wooden, but I spoke with them at clinics," Herrin said. "As a college player, I played against Eddie Hickey's St. Louis teams. I'd say Iba and Wooden are two of the top five coaches that ever coached in college basketball."

Herrin is ranked fourth in wins among MVC coaches. He said his selection had been talked about for some time, so it didn't come as a total surprise. That doesn't mean Herrin is any less appreciative.

"I think it probably means more to me than anything other than my wife and my four children," he said. "It's a great honor. I had outstanding players, outstanding young men. I was very blessed with good players, players who had talent and people who got the most of their abilities."

There are just four other Salukis in the Valley's hall of fame: Walt Frazier, Jim Hart, Charlotte West and Lew Hartzog.

"It was very nice that we could promote coach's candidacy because he's done so much," said SIU athletic director Mario Moccia. "It's a well-deserved award; he won the conference championship three years in a row. We're just pleased we can be represented by him."

Turning it around

The Saluki basketball program had hit rock bottom when Herrin arrived in 1985. SIU was 14-14 in the final year of Allen Van Winkle's tenure, but the school was subject to an NCAA investigation.

With few returning players, Herrin's first team limped to an 8-20 finish. However, just four years later, Herrin led the team to a 20-14 finish. That team advanced to the MVC championship game before losing to Creighton, 79-77.

Randy House of Benton played for Herrin for three years in high school and four years at SIU. House jokingly said no one is more qualified to comment on Herrin than he is.

"I've got the numbers," he said. "I can't compare him to anybody else because I never had another coach.

"He won a heck of a lot of games. He's a good motivator. I don't know if he can coach or not, but he won a lot of basketball games."

All kidding aside, House said Herrin is richly deserving of the award.

"Legends are people who are already dead and they don't happen in our lifetimes," House said. "Rich was in the right place at the right time. As far as I know, he had no aspirations of coaching Duke or North Carolina. He was a Southern Illinois boy. He was born and raised here. He was exactly what SIU needed at exactly the right time."

With the hall of fame selection, Herrin's place in SIU and MVC history is assured.

"It's certainly a prestigious award for the school to win," Moccia said. "It certainly is a big deal for coach. It's a big deal for the program as whole."

Other members of the Class of 2010 are Creighton's Kyle Korver and Missouri State women's basketball coach Cheryl Burnett.

les.winkeler@thesouthern.com

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