Chris Herren, a former professional basketball player, recently spoke to Hills’ Freshmen and Sophomores about the detrimental effect of alcohol and drug abuse on Wednesday, May 29th.

Herren grew up in Fall River, Massachusetts where he excelled at high school basketball before being an All-American recruited by Boston College. After college, Herren went on to play for the Denver Nuggets, Boston Celtics, and played basketball overseas as well.

In high school, Herren was no stranger to alcohol and marijuana. However, his life took a serious turn for the worse when he first tried cocaine at college. From that moment on, Herren chased a better high for the next 15 years, experimenting with cocaine, then opioids, and then heroin.

“His story really influenced me to not fall into peer pressure because of the dangerous effects it comes with,” Freshman Manuela Gonzalez states.

His severe addiction ruined his life and basketball career from multiple drug arrests. He also relapsed during rehab and noted that at that time in his life, it was not even safe for him to be around his own children.

“His speech showed a different perspective of what I thought the drug world was like. It really can happen to even hard-working people and ruin your life forever,” Sophomore Lily Waterman expressed.

Thankfully, Herren is now eleven years sober and speaks to students across the country about his own experience with addiction. Herren stressed that “if I could make a difference in just one kid’s life, then [public speaking] would all be worth it.”