CHRIS HERREN

Author and former NBA basketball player

Tuesday, March 26, 2013, 7:00 PM
Horace Mann Auditorium, Boyden Hall

Chris Herren is a high school basketball legend from Fall River, Massachusetts, and a former NBA player. The 6'2" guard scored 2,073 career points while at Durfee High School and was a Boston Globe and Gatorade player of the year. He was named to the McDonald's All-American team in 1994. Mr. Herren played for Boston College and Fresno State, and was named to the all WAC first team in 1996 and 1997.

After being drafted by the NBA in the 2nd round, he played for the Denver Nuggets in 1999 and was traded to the Boston Celtics in 2000, where he scored a career-high 18 points against the Dallas Mavericks.

After realizing his dream, he lost it all to alcohol and drug addiction. Sober since August 2008, Mr. Herren has refocused his life and put his sobriety and family above all else. Mr. Herren shares his harrowing story of abuse and recovery in his memoir, Basketball Junkie, as well as in numerous interviews throughout the ESPN documentary Unguarded, of which he is the subject.

In June 2009, he launched "Hoop Dreams with Chris Herren," a basketball player development company that offers basketball training, camps and clinics to top basketball prospects in New England.

Drawing on his own experience, Mr. Herren continues sharing his inspirational story with audiences in the hope of reaching even just one person and making a difference in his or her life. He urges that overcoming setbacks is possible and proves it is never too late to make the right choices and follow one’s dreams.

To support this vision, he founded The Herren Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing assistance to families affected by addiction. In 2012, The Herren Project launched Project Purple, a national anti-substance campaign, to encourage people of all ages to stand up to substance abuse.