By Ryan Keith 21

Christmas came more than a month early for SIUC men’s basketball coach Rich Herrin Monday.

The Benton native received his biggest present of the holiday season from Athletic Director Jim Hart as Hart announced that Herrin’s contract has been reinstated to continuing status.

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The move comes four months after Hart announced that Herrin’s continuing roll-over contract was being changed into a one-year term deal that would be re-evaluated following this season. The deal was set to expire July 31.

Hart said recent contract talks between him and Herrin led to an agreement on what direction the program should take.

It was just a combination of Rich and I talking for a long time now, Hart said. Really, his contract had never been changed. We had talked about it, and I had given him a contract, but he never gave it back. It’s not a different contract.

We share the same vision that things get better. We also came to grips with some things that needed to be done in order to make things better. We both are in agreement, and we’re expecting those things to happen.

Hart did not elaborate on what he and Herrin are going to do to improve the program.

Herrin said the decision was one that he appreciated after his 13 years of service at the school.

I thought I’ve done the best job that I’m capable of doing, Herrin said. I work hard in whatever I do. If you look over the 13 years . . . I’ve put people in the Arena. I’ve sold tickets. I’ve raised money. I couldn’t have worked any harder than I have worked.

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I’ve got a lot of friends in Southern Illinois that are very supportive, and they believe in what I’ve done. We’ve graduated players. We’ve got players playing in the NBA. We’ve made money in the program.

But the summer months were not very smooth for Herrin. His brother and assistant coach, Ron, died of a brain aneurysm May 11, and assistant coach Tommy Deffebaugh left the team Aug. 12 for Oral Roberts University.

Yet the biggest announcement was a restructured contract, which Hart announced in a press release July 22. Hart said Herrin’s deal, which had been annually renewed unless SIUC decided otherwise, was being rewritten.

Hart stated in the press release that the deal would be re-evaluated following the season. Hart said that although a winning season would be a factor in the review, it would not guarantee Herrin would be coaching the team next season.

The announcement caught Herrin off guard, and the veteran coach of 42 seasons said in July that he was not aware of the plans until Hart made the decision public. The Salukis have had losing seasons for the past two years after winning three-consecutive Missouri Valley Conference championships.

Hart said the deal will still be reviewed at a later date, but he is confident Herrin has taken steps toward establishing a winning program again.

It’s evaluated at the end of the year just like everybody, Hart said. It would be safe to say that it will probably be scrutinized a little bit more so than most because it’s such a visible sport and it means so much for our program for it to be successful.

I don’t want anything but success for the team, and I think Rich shares that as well. We’re looking for some better basketball, and I’ll think we’ll get it.

Monday’s decision came hours prior to the Salukis’ first exhibition game of the season, a 79-67 loss to NBC Thunder at SIU Arena. The announcement also came prior to the fall signing period of recruits that begins today and SIUC’s home-opener against the University of Miami Friday.

Saluki senior guard Shane Hawkins said the decision opens the door for future success.

It’s good for the program, Hawkins said. He knows that he’s going to be here. He doesn’t have to go out and prove something every day in practice or in every game. There’s not as much pressure on him, so in turn there’s not as much pressure on us.

But while Santa Claus may have visited early, Herrin is more concerned with leading his team back to success in the MVC.

I can’t worry about it, Herrin said. I just want to go in and coach. I’ve never talked to my team about anything and never will. Nobody wants to win more than I want to win.

The University has been very, very lucky to accomplish what they’ve accomplished, and I’ve been very lucky to accomplish what I’ve accomplished. I feel very good about what we’ve accomplished. All I’m going to do is coach basketball.