Pete Herrmann Luncheon

Former Navy Basketball Coach Pete Herrmann Speaks at Chapter September Luncheon

Our guest speaker at the Chapter September luncheon was Coach Pete Herrmann, Navy Basketball coach from 1980 to 1992. Thanks to Chapter Board member Mary McElroy ’87 for arranging this visit.

Pete is now Associate Head Coach at UGA, and was wearing his UGA shirt, but quickly made up for that with the assembled alumni. He said that wherever he goes, he’s always referred to as the “Coach from Navy”, which he takes as the ultimate compliment.

Here’s a quick history of Pete’s coaching career:

A 25-year veteran of coaching at the NCAA division I level, Pete Herrmann begins his eighth season working alongside Dennis Felton, his third as the Associate Head Coach for the Bulldogs.

Georgia is Herrmann's fifth Division I school. After coaching at the high school and Division III levels for 11 years, he coached basketball at the U.S. Naval Academy for 12 years, the first six as an assistant and the next six as the Midshipmen's head coach. David Robinson was Navy's most prominent player during that time. He arrived in Annapolis as a skinny 6-7 forward but became the Academy's all-time leading scorer, rebounder and shot blocker.

Herrmann's other coaching stops included Kansas State (1992-94), Virginia (1994-98) and Western Kentucky (1998-2003). In all, 13 of the teams he helped coach won either their league's regular-season or conference tournament titles. Nine of them have earned NCAA Tournament berths, including the 1986 Navy and 1995 Virginia squads, both of which reached the Elite Eight. The 1994 Kansas State squad, which Herrmann assisted, reached the NIT Final Four.

Herrmann was an All-American, a 2-year captain and twice MVP of the baseball team at the State University of New York at Geneseo. He also played basketball and was inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1991.

Herrmann began coaching as an assistant coach at Byron-Bergen Central School in Bergen, N.Y. (1970-74) and then spent a year (1974-75) as an aide at Hobart College. He was head coach at Midlakes High School in Clifton Springs, N.Y., for five seasons (1975-80) and was the regional prep Coach of the Year in 1978.

A 1970 graduate of SUNY-Geneseo, Herrmann is an enthusiastic speaker and has participated in a variety of national clinics. He is also a former officer in the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

He and his wife Sharon have a daughter, Lisa, and a grandson, Pete.

Back to Pete’s speech...

Coach Herrmann related a lot of recruiting stories to us during his speech. Most of them were so colorful, that I can’t possibly do them justice in writing here. As they say, “You had to be there!” So, if you missed this luncheon, you missed a great story telling.

One serious note about recruiting Pete relayed was that he never went to the recruit’s coach first when evaluating them. He always went to the academic staff first to try and determine if the recruit could pass the academic classes at the Academy. Only after he was confident in that did he contact the coach and discuss the recruit’s talents and abilities on the court.

Pete was the Navy basketball coach at Navy from 1980 to 1992. From 1980 to 1990 Navy never lost to Army on the court! Pete has been coaching now for 37 years. He says that he will continue to do so as long as his association with the players, the players’ parents, and the coaching staff remain positive and enjoyable. Those are the things that keep him in coaching. The best thing about coaching, he said, is teaching kids to grow into responsible adults and leaders.

Many thanks to Pete for sharing his exceptional coaching experiences with us.

Click on a thumbnail image to view a full-size picture.

Chapter President Steve Frederick '72, presents Coach Herrmann with his personalized Atlanta Chapter apron.