Coach Herndon is currently in his fifth year of offering private basketball instruction in the Houston area. After 2 decades of working at the college and high school levels, Herndon has taken time to complete multiple basketball instructional projects (6 manuals on different aspects of the game and 3 instructional videos covering post play, shooting and ball handling).

Herndon has been employed to work privately with some of the best high school, college and professional players in the country. Herndon's specialty is post play, but he also possesses a mastery of teaching the art of shooting, step by step. While he has the ability to coach and teach the game at the highest level, he also has a gift for being able to break down the game into its simplest parts. "CH" is one of the nation's finest teachers of the game.

Herndon joined the Rice Owls’ basketball staff back in 1993. When the native Houstonian went to Rice he had immediate impact on the floor in his role of developing the Owls’ post players. In that time, Herndon built a reputation as one of the finest big man coaches in the country. Herndon played a vital role in resurrecting the Owls’ basketball program during Rice’s successful 98/99 season in which the Owls (18-10) were tabbed as the nation’s third best ‘turnaround team.’ While at Rice Herndon has assisted in all aspects of the Owls’ program, while serving primarily as the recruiting coordinator and academic liaison. In his first year at Rice Herndon completed a Master’s degree in the Art of Teaching when he taught Spanish classes during the morning at inner city Jefferson Davis High School.

John still serves as summer camp director for the Rice Owls’ basketball camps. ‘CH,’ as he is known to the campers, teaches the game like no other. His philosophy is for campers to have fun, to learn and to improve. Watching Herndon interact with campers is a lesson in how to teach and communicate, no matter the subject.

An accomplished clinician, Herndon is a year-round teacher of the game. In the summer of 1999 Herndon helped train one of China’s Select Junior National teams that was preparing for the Olympics. In the summer of 2000 Herndon was selected by the British Virgin Islands to conduct summer basketball clinics for players and coaches. Twice Herndon headed up the NCAA’s Yes Clinic that provided instruction to area youth at the Final Four. And in the summer of 2002 he traveled to Austria as one of two clinicians for a government-sponsored coaches’ clinic and position play camp. An accomplished writer and photographer, Herndon has authored and illustrated books on Post Play, Shooting, Building a Program and Youth Basketball.

Herndon came to Rice after working at North Dakota State University, where he was an assistant for the Bison under former Rice and current Texas A&M assistant, Tom Billeter. Herndon helped lay groundwork for two Bison teams that made it to the NCAA Division II Tournament. In addition to his basketball duties at NDSU, Herndon taught a Philosophy of Basketball class.

Before North Dakota State, he was the top assistant at his alma mater, Washington and Lee University. John also served as assistant baseball coach and taught golf and tennis classes in the Physical Education Department.

Herndon attended Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. A graduate of the class of 1985, Herndon played point guard for the Generals, sang in the Glee Club, was a member of the vocal ensemble ‘Southern Comfort,’ played guitar in a local acoustic band, participated in the ‘Big Brothers’ and worked with local ranchers in the off-seasons and summers. Herndon was a double major in Geology and Spanish.

Upon graduation from W&L, John went into high school teaching, coaching and administration. His first stop was Asheville, North Carolina at Christ School where he worked as assistant to the Athletic Director, coached 3 sports and taught Spanish and Earth Science. Moving to Houston in 1988, Herndon became the Athletic Director of the first year John Cooper School. Herndon also served as the head basketball coach at Episcopal High School. The following year he joined Episcopal full time to become the head basketball and golf coach while also teaching 3 levels of Spanish and serving as the Huddle Leader for the local Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

A two-time all-conference performer, John attended high school at St. John’s School (1981) in Houston, leading the Rebels to the Southwest Preparatory championship. That SPC Championship team is St. John’s only basketball championship in the last 23 years.