Herren discusses substance abuse

Chris Herren, a former NBA player, spoke to an audience replete with IU student athletes Tuesday.

Herren, who was featured in the ESPN documentary “Unguarded,” told his story of overcoming substance abuse in the Heinke Hall of Champions in Memorial Stadium.
He delivered his message to what he said was his preferred audience.

“Where I want to be most is in front of student athletes,” he said.

For an hour, Herren recounted his life story to a jam-packed audience. In high school, he said he drank and smoked marijuana. As his life progressed, so did his drug use, and he jumped from cocaine to oxycontin to heroin.

At Durfee High School in Fall River, Mass., Herren was an All-America basketball star and had the opportunity to attend any college.

He chose Boston College.

During his first semester, Herren’s head coach brought in someone to speak to the team about substance abuse. 

“I heard way too many speakers about substance abuse, and it’s a waste of time,” Herren said. ”I truly believed I was above it.”

Directly after one of these talks, Herren returned to his dorm room.

When he opened the door, his roommate and a woman, both freshmen student athletes, were snorting cocaine.

Herren turned to exit the room, but the woman told him to come back. That was the first time he did cocaine.

“At 18 years old, I promised myself one line, just one time,” he said. “I had no idea that one line would take 14 years to walk away from.”

The following day, Herren had his first drug test.

“I walked into my first college drug test knowing I was going to test positive for marijuana and cocaine,” he said.

After fracturing his wrist in his first college basketball game, Herren was out for his freshman season. With basketball temporarily out of his life, he indulged in partying and drugs.

“I figured they wouldn’t test me because I wasn’t playing. I was wrong,” he said.
After failing three more drug tests, Boston College rescinded his scholarship and sent him home.

Even after Hall of Fame Basketball Coach Jeff Tarkanian gave Herren a
second chance to play at Fresno State, Herren continued to abuse drugs.

Despite his battle with drugs, he still performed well. In 1999, he was selected 33rd in the NBA draft by the Denver Nuggets.

“When I walked into that locker room with the Denver Nuggets, I had guys like Chauncey Billups, Nick Van Exel, Antonio McDyess, who pulled me aside and said, ‘We’ve seen your story ... that’s not going to happen here,’” Herren said.

He stayed out of trouble until after the season, when he purchased his first oxycontin pill for $20.

“I had no idea that the $20 I spent that day ... would turn into a $25,000 a month oxycontin habit,” he said.

Herren’s career continued and finally peaked when he was offered the position of starter for the Boston Celtics. But Herren said he doesn’t remember the night his dream came true.

After his last season in the NBA, Herren played in Europe. At 24-years-old, Herren shot heroin intravenously for the first time.

It wasn’t until basketball Hall of Famer Chris Mullin, who had struggled with an alcohol addiction, paid for Herren to enter a treatment center that he started to get better.
Junior football captain and starting linebacker David Cooper said he appreciated Herren’s message and understood the dangers of drug abuse.

“It could potentially affect everyone in this room,” he said.

Head Football Coach Kevin Wilson said it was important to have his team in attendance.

“We have to continue to educate our guys on and off court on social activities and behaviors,” he said. “We have to educate guys on how to do the right things.”