Herren will speak at 7 p.m. tonight at the Franklin High School Auditorium, 740 E. Fourth St.
A high school basketball star who scored 2,073 points in Falls River, Mass., Herren was named to the 1994 McDonald’s All-American team. After turning down offers from the University of Kentucky and Duke University, Herren went Boston College.
After failing drug tests at Boston College and sitting out a year, he transferred to Fresno State, where he played point guard and was named to the 1998 first team All-Western Athletic Conference in 1996 and 1997. However, he announced he would miss part of the 1997-98 season to seek treatment of his substance abuse.
Herren was drafted by the Denver Nuggets in the second round of the 1999 NBA draft. He later played a year for the Boston Celtics and several years overseas.
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According to the Herren Project website, he was released from a Fall River hospital in June 2008 just hours after a heroin overdose with little money and no healthcare coverage. Through the help of family and friends, Herren entered an extended treatment program. He completed the program on Aug. 1, 2008 and has remained sober. He founded the Herren Project in 2011 and has spoke to more than a million people, according to the website.
Tonight’s talk is sponsored by the city of Franklin, the Franklin HOPE program, Franklin City Schools, Mental Health Recovery Services of Warren and Clinton Counties and Talbert House.
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