Indiana University Northwest Men's Basketball

Javier Heridia begins his ninth season as the head coach for the Indiana University Northwest men's basketball program.   During his first eight seasons, Heridia has led his RedHawks to 144 wins, which includes four 20 win campaigns and an NAIA tournament appearance in 2022 and 2024.  Under the guidance of Heridia, the 2023-24 RedHawks finished the regular season tied for the second in the CCAC regular season standings. Heridia also led IUN to the 2024 CCAC Tournament Championship with an 88-63 victory over IU South Bend, which gave the RedHawks an automatic qualifier into the NAIA Tournament.  IUN won 14-of-16 to finish the 2023-24 season, which includes a victory over No. 11 Roosevelt on the road.  The CCAC honored three of Heridia's student-athletes with all-conference honors as Dannie Smith earned a first team nod and Newcomer of the Year, while Anthony Taylor and Trace Williams garnered a second team accolade.   Heridia led the RedHawks to the semifinals of the CCAC Tournament for the second time in three seasons during the 2022-23 campaign.  Following the completion of the 2022-23 season, Heridia saw former Jared Johnson and Isaac Stanback garner second team all-conference accolades. Tyler Houston, meanwhile, was named NAIA Scholar Athlete after finishing his time at IUN with a GPA over 3.6.  Heridia led the RedHawks to an 11-game winning streak, which included a win over No. 20 IU South Bend in 2022. Upon completion of the regular season Heridia was named HOOP DIRT Coach of the Week and earned a trip to the NAIA Tournament in Omaha, Neb. Heridia also saw Jared Johnson earn NAIA All-America honors following the 2021-22 season.  On November 23, 2021, the RedHawks defeated CCAC foe Olivet Nazarene University giving the Tigers their only conference loss of the season. Later on in the season Heridia earned his 100th career win with a 67-62 victory over St. Ambrose on Jan. 19, 2022.  During the COVID-19 shortened 2020-21 season, Heridia led the RedHawks to a 7-9 mark, but advanced to the CCAC championship game. IUN defeated Trinity Christian and Saint Ambrose in the first two rounds before falling to IU South Bend in the championship.   In the first year as a CCAC member in 2019-2020, Heridia saw his RedHawks finish with a 13-9 record in conference play, which earned them the sixth seed in the conference tournament.  The 2018-2019 RedHawks under Heridias tutelage began their season with the best start in program history, beating the number 5 team in the country, Marian University. They went on to break yet another school record with 125 points scored in a game and concluded a record 23-6 regular season and set the programs longest 11 game winning streak. Also, this year Heridia was named A.I.I. Mens Basketball Coach of the Year. The 2017-18 season saw IUN score 100 points or more points four times and on Feb. 15, 2018, they went on to make school history by scoring 120 points in a single game. This same year the RedHawks earned a spot in the A.I.I. Conference Tournament for the second year in a row. The 2016-17 was Heridia's first season at the helm of the IUN men's basketball program and led the RedHawks to a 21-11 record, which tied the school record for most wins in a single season. In addition to this, the RedHawks brought home a big victory over an NCAA Division II opponent, St. Josephs College.  The RedHawks finished the 2016-17 ranked second in the nation in scoring offense while holding the fifth spot for team rebounding. That same year Heridia was named IU Northwests Coach of the Year. Under Heridias direction, IU Northwest student-athletes have been named A.I.I. Conference Player of the year, Chris Dixon-Williams 2018-19, four players named to All-Conference teams (Rashad Richardson 2018-19, A.I.I First Team and 2019-20 CCAC First team, Armon Williams 2018-19, A.I.I First Team as well as Jared Johnson 2020-21 CCAC Second Team and 2021-22 CCAC First Team with Marshuad Watkins named All-CCAC Honorable Mention.  Past players of Heridias have gone on to coach various high school sports throughout the region, have continued their passion for athletics by being named Associate Head Coach and Athletic Director, just to name a few. He has also had several players come back for an opportunity to coach, student manage, as well as volunteer with the program.