April 13, 2015
Herrion a driving force behind Coaches Powering Forward for Autism effort
Kansas City, Mo. – Georgia Tech assistant basketball coach Tom Herrion has been honored by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) as part of its Guardians of the Game Awards program. Herrion and Towson University head coach Pat Skerry are the recipients of the NABC’s Award for Service.
The NABC presented its 2015 Guardians of the Game Awards for advocacy, education, leadership and service, the four core values of NABC membership at the annual AT&T NABC Guardians of the Game Awards Show on Sunday, April 5, at the Murat Theatre at Old National Centre in Indianapolis.
Herrion, a former head coach at the College of Charleston and Marshall, as well as an assistant at Providence, Virginia and Pittsburgh, completed his first season on Brian Gregory’s staff at Georgia Tech in 2014-15.
As basketball coaches, Towson’s Pat Skerry and Tom Herrion of Georgia Tech know very well how to implement a full court press. That skill was never more effective than in February of 2014 when Pat and Tom used it on some of the nation’s top coaches. With assistance from their wives, Kristen Skerry and Leslie Herrion, they sent out blue puzzle pins to all of the coaches who had a televised game on one weekend. The puzzle piece is an awareness tool for people to learn more about the fastest growing developmental disorder in our society – Autism – that affects 1 in 68 children, including 1 in 42 boys.
This full-court press worked so well that almost every coach wore the pin on their lapel for national and regional television audiences. Coaches in the 2015 Final Four, including Tom Izzo and Mike Krzyzewski, wore them, as well as many of the network broadcasters on the games. It was the birth of Coaches Powering Forward for Autism benefitting Autism Speaks.
The Skerrys and the Herrions each have a son on the autism spectrum, Owen Skerry and Robert Herrion, and are passionate about helping other families learn about autism, for which there is no detection or cure.
Coaches Powering Forward for Autism, benefitting Autism Speaks, had its second successful awareness campaign in February of this year and will continue its efforts to increase awareness, seek out available resources and raise funds for research.
ABOUT THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BASKETBALL COACHES
Located in Kansas City, Missouri, the NABC was founded in 1927 by Forrest “Phog” Allen, the legendary basketball coach at the University of Kansas. Allen, a student of James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, organized coaches into this collective group to serve as Guardians of the Game. The NABC currently has nearly 5,000 members consisting primarily of university and college men’s basketball coaches. All members of the NABC are expected to uphold the core values of being a Guardian of the Game by bringing attention to the positive aspects of the sport of basketball and the role coaches play in the academic and athletic lives of today’s student-athletes. The four core values of being a Guardian of the Game are advocacy, leadership, service and education. Additional information about the NABC, its programs and membership, can be found at nabc.org.
ABOUT GEORGIA TECH MEN’S BASKETBALL
Georgia Tech’s men’s basketball team has completed its fourth year under head coach Brian Gregory. The Yellow Jackets have been a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference since 1979, won three ACC Championships (1985, 1990, 1993), played in the NCAA Tournament 16 times and played in two Final Fours (1990, 2004). Connect with Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball on social media by liking their Facebook Page, or following on Twitter (@GTMBK).
For more information on Tech basketball, visit Ramblinwreck.com. Tickets for men’s basketball can be purchased here.
