Chris Herren: Fall River Dreams Essay, Research Paper

CHRIS HERREN:Fall River DreamsG. O. Chris Herren was born on September 27, 1975 in Fall River, Massachusetts to Al and Cynthia Herren. Chris was very young when he picked up his first basketball. He had played in a youth league called the Milliken league since he was seven and had always made all the all-star teams. Chris went on to Durfee High school and was highly recruited as a Junior. By his Senior year he decided on attending nearby Boston College. Chris got injured in his first game at BC, so he had to sit out all year. He later transferred to Fresno State as a sophomore, where he would pursue his Fall River Dreams. Chris Herren was destined to be an athlete since the day he was born. His father played basketball at Durfee, the only high school in Fall River, and was captain of the team in 1970. Chris s brother, Mike Herren, who attended Durfee in 88, holds the high scoring record for the whole school and led his team to two state titles. On top of that, his mom was a cheerleader at Durfee for all four years. Chris s bloodlines weren t all he had, he had strength, size and charisma. Chris got his first letter from a college when he was a freshman. He was exited about it because people were recruiting him since the 8th grade. He was 6 2 and a very lanky lanky kid, but could play basketball like no one else at Durfee High. Durfee s coach, Skip Karam, always liked Chris, but their relationship was based on a love-hate basis. This love-hate relationship started when Chris was a Junior. It was Chris s team now, and rarely showed 100 % in practice. Karam had thrown him out of so many practices, that not even he could recount how many times it s been. Even though Chris was always getting yelled at, he was praised heavily when he did something well in a game or practice. “You should do it like Chrissie,” Karam would say after one of Herren s 30 or 40 point games. Chris was a wonder on the court, and Karam knew it. Karam knew those 27 points per game in Herren s Junior year weren t luck.

Off the court Chris was cocky, rough, and very confident. He would fight at school with anyone who wanted to, and would walk with a little dip in his stride like he was a superstar. Karam was mostly fine with this, but it was the drinking that he didn t like. Herren and his basketball teammates would drink every weekend, and occasionally smoke some weed too. Karam knew this was going on, but couldn t stop it. This attributed to some of Herren s unwanted fat in his stomach. Despite his off the court actions Chris was still the best player to come out of Durfee. Herren was receiving nearly 2 letters a day from colleges all over the country. His big ones were from Kentucky, Indiana, Florida, Syracuse and Boston College. Ultimately Boston College would be his choice out of these very prominent ones. Even so, everyone had their own opinion about where Chris should go, yet he didn t know until after his Senior year. All this recruiting was stressful to Chris, and he was still drinking heavily because of it. When he went to Boston College his freshman year in college, he broke his wrist in the very first game. He couldn t play for the next year, and his hopes were way down. Then a man named Jerry Tarkanian called him up at BC and got him to go to Fresno State. Herren is now glad to be here and away from the town of Fall River. Here there are more opportunities for young people and things to do on Friday nights. Chris isn t used to it, but he likes it. Going from a lanky kid that played ball in the Milliken league, to the super star from Fresno State was a long, hard process. Chris is the kind of guy who could do it, his friends couldn t. They ended up to be nothings, nobodies, while Chris is a star at Fresno and will go on to the NBA. Chris has proven that he can win the fight to go big time. He has truly fulfilled his dreams as well, his Fall River Dreams.