Head men's basketball coach
Chris Kraus announced the hiring of
Bill Herrion to the Stonehill College coaching staff for the 2024-25 season ahead of the Skyhawk's third campaign at the Division I level as members of the
Northeast Conference.
Herrion joins the Stonehill men's basketball program as the winningest coach in the history of both the America East Conference and the University of New Hampshire men's basketball program.
"I am extremely excited to add Coach Bill Herrion to our staff", said Coach Kraus. "I have so much respect for him, his teams at New Hampshire, and over his entire coaching career. He is the all-time leader in games won in the America East Conference and at the University of New Hampshire and is also one of the best fundamental coaches in the country. To add a coach of his caliber and expertise to our team will be invaluable. I can't wait to work with and learn from him each day. It is an honor to welcome Coach Herrion to the Stonehill basketball family!"
Herrion began an 18-year run as the head coach of New Hampshire in 2005 after a short stint as the associate head coach at the University of Arkansas. In his time at UNH, he accumulated a 227-303 (.428) record, the winningest coach in Wildcat history. His 394 wins between his time as head coach at UNH and as the head coach at Drexel still stands as the all-time mark in America East history.
The Wildcats reached the America East semifinals seven times (2006, 2009-10, 2015-16-17, 2023) under Herrion, who was a four-time America East Coach of the Year (1993, 1995-96, 1999) during his tenure at Drexel.
At Drexel, Herrion posted an impressive 167-71 record from 1991-1999. During that period, Herrion led the Dragons to three NCAA tournament appearances in 1994, 1995, and 1996 and led the school to its first-ever NIT appearance in 1991. In 1996, Drexel won its first-ever NCAA tournament game with a first-round upset win over Memphis.
In between his coaching jobs at UNH and Drexel, Herrion led the men's basketball program at Eastern Carolina University from 1999-2005. As head coach, he collected 70 wins, the fifth-most in Pirates history.
Herrion began his coaching career as an assistant under Mike Jarvis at Boston University from 1985-1990. During his stay in Boston, the Terriers posted a 101-51 record, made NCAA appearances in 1988 and 1990, and were invited to the NIT in 1986.
Ryan Herrion, the son of Bill, played at New Hampshire from 2008-12 and coached under his father from 2018-22 at UNH and was also a part of Coach Kraus's staff here at Stonehill from 2016-2018. In his three years on staff here, the Skyhawks compiled a 56-33 overall record and advanced to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight in 2016, when the Skyhawks went 24-9. Ryan now coaches at UMass Lowell as an assistant under Pat Duquette.
Herrion graduated from Merrimack College in 1981 and was a member of the Warriors men's basketball team that played in the Northeast-8 conference, now known as the Northeast-10, against Stonehill at the Division II level.
