Hitting the biggest shot in Wright State history – with Delme Herriman – Ep. 70

For episode 70 of the Hoopsfix podcast, we sit down with Delme Herriman, aka Mr Versatility, former England international and 13 year pro.

Herriman, who published his autobiography in 2010 chronicling the details of his life and basketball career, collected 77 caps for England, winning a Bronze medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, alongside a more-than-decade-long professional career that saw him play in Italy, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria and the UK.

The 6’6″ ‘point forward’ started games at the 1 through 4 positions, and would regularly stuff the statsheet flirting with triple doubles which earned him the nickname Mr Versatility.

Delme finished his college career at Wright State – where he was a four year starter – second all-time in games played, and third all-time in minutes played, but he lives forever in the memory of Raiders’ fans for hitting ‘The Shot’; the basket which saw WSU’s 71-70 victory over No.25 Ranked Xavier in the 1995 MCC Tournament, with just 1.1 seconds remaining.

In this 1 hour forty minute episode, hear from Delme on:

• How he was first introduced to the game
• The Manchester United basketball programme
• What inspired him to take the game more seriously
• How watching VHS tapes of Steve Bucknall and Karl Brown at college inspired him
• Whether or not he had a natural ability for basketball
• How he ended up getting out to the US through the Rotary International programme
• Whether High School was what he expected it to be
• The difference in mentality between Americans and English players
• Growing up in Widnes compared to Urichsville the town he moved to in the US
• Having to deal with racism
• The recruitment process and why he chose Wright State
• The impact that redshirting a year had on allowing him to adapt and improve
• College life and living independently
• Playing in front of 42,000 fans against Indiana in the NCAA tournament in his freshman year
• Hitting ‘the shot’ to lead WSU to victory over Xavier in the MCC tournament
• Whether or not he believed he had the talent to make the NBA
• The Bosman ruling
• Turning pro and his first contract in Italy with Trieste worth $90,000 a year
• Falling out of love with the game
• Returning home to play for the Manchester Giants after turning down a renewal offer from Trieste
• Playing for England and his favourite memories with the national team
• Coach Laszlo Nemeth and his impact
• His time in the Netherlands
• Winning a championship with Chester in the BBL
• Making the transition to retire from playing
• And much, much more!