FDU Just Won A Tournament* Game After Its Coach Was In ICU/Hospital For 15 Days

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[Post] - Barely 11 months after he was hospitalized for 15 days in San Antonio with two significant blood clots — while attending the Final Four with his wife and son — Herenda and the Knights learned they will face Prairie View A&M on Tuesday in a play-in game in Dayton for the right to face No. 1 seed Gonzaga in the West Region.

“I told my wife, I didn’t want to die in Texas. There was a reason to live,” said Herenda, the 57-year-old Bergen County native in his sixth season at the Hackensack school. “In the hospital, I had two major blood clots, and a very high fever, I was intensive care for eight days, but I just thought of my team. Every time I talk to them about getting back, and working hard, and just chipping away, well, that’s how I got out of there

What an absolutely wild story here. They mentioned it during the broadcast which is something I completely forgot about if I’m being honest. FDU’s coach shouldn’t really be coaching.

I mean 8 days in the ICU. 15 days in the hospital. Two major blood clots. That’s some shit, man.

Just an awesome story that he’s on the sidelines let alone that FDU just won its first tournament* game. (I use * because it’s technically a tournament win, but come on, we don’t ACTUALLY count it as a true tournament win).

What a ridiculous second half by FDU too. Down double digits before Jahlil Jenkins just went wild. He finished with 22 and Darnell Edge had 33. Two guards that can absolutely score and get hot, now they get Gonzaga.

But, the story here is still the fact that Greg Herenda is out here coaching in the NCAA Tournament a year after he was in the hospital during the Final Four. Every March we get awesome stories like this that make you start to cheer for a team. This is now the second coach to get behind.

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Also how about this quote:

“I was in a bed, I was in a wheelchair, then a walker, a cane, and now we’re dancing. It’s amazing. It’s not real. It’s like it couldn’t happen. It would be a fantasy, fiction, if someone were to write it. But I lived it and I’m cherishing this moment. … This team has rallied around me, but it’s not about me or my illness. They’re kids and they want to play basketball and win games.”

Acting like it’s nothing, only cares about his players. Shout out FDU. Give us 66 more games like this please.