FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Bill Herrion (pronounced Hair-e-un), a former head basketball coach at East Carolina and Drexel University, has been hired as an assistant at Arkansas, head coach Stan Heath announced on Monday.

Herrion was the head coach at East Carolina the last six years, guiding the Pirates to a 70-98 record while steering the program from membership in the Colonial Athletic Association into Conference-USA.

Before going to the Greenville, N.C., school in 2000, the three-time conference coach of the year led Drexel to a 167-71 (.702) record from 1992-99 with three trips to the NCAA Tournament and one to the NIT. In 14 years as a head coach, he owns a career record of 237-169 (.584).

"I'm very excited that Bill has joined our staff," Heath says. "His intensity and enthusiasm impressed me. I was looking for someone with experience and possibly with head coaching experience. He fits that criteria."

Herrion, a native of Worcester, Mass., and a 1981 graduate of Merrimack College, coached ECU to a 10-18 mark in 2000 and a 14-14 finish in 2001 as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association. The Pirates joined C-USA the next year and went 12-18 in 2002, 12-15 in 2003, 13-14 in 2004 and 9-19 last season.

At Drexel, his teams were 16-14 in 1992, 22-7 in '93, 25-5 in '94, 22-8 in '95, 27-4 in '96, 22-9 in '97, 13-15 in '98 and 20-9 in '99. The Dragons were 121-32 (.791) in the America East Conference, formerly the North Atlantic Conference, during that time with NCAA Tournament bids in 1994, '95 and '96. The 1996 club beat Memphis in the first round of the West Regional at Albuquerque, N.M., before losing to Syracuse. The Dragons lost NCAA games to Temple in 1994 and Oklahoma State in '95. Drexel also earned an NIT bid in 1997, losing to Bradley.

Drexel won conference titles in 1993, '94, '95 and '96, tied for first in 1999, and finished second in two other seasons (1992 and 1997). Herrion was named conference coach of the year in 1993, '95, '96 and '99. The Dragons averaged 21 wins a year under Herrion.

When he went to the Philadelphia school in 1992, Drexel had suffered three straight losing seasons as a member of the East Coast Conference. Drexel joined the North Atlantic Conference in '92, which became the America East in 1997.

"I expect him to make an immediate impact," Heath says. "His teams have a history of being hard-nosed on defense. He also loves being in the gym so I can see him playing a key role with player development."

East Carolina was second in Conference-USA in rebounding last year (39.9), trailing only Cincinnati (41.4), and the Pirates were also second in offensive rebounding (14.39). Six-eight junior forward Corey Rouse led the league in rebounding (10.2) and 6-10 senior center Moussa Badiane led the conference in blocked shots (2.78). Herrion's 2004 squad led C-USA in rebounding margin (+5.1) and his 2002 team topped the league in blocked shots (4.67).

At Drexel, his teams led the league in rebounding in 1995 (39.9), '96 (41.3) and '99 (38.2); in rebounding margin in 1994 (+4.3), '95 (+5.7), '96 (+6.0) and '99 (+4.5); in scoring defense in 1993 (67.0), '94 (65.6), '95 (66.0) and '96 (66.3); field goal percentage defense in 1994 (.389), '95 (.406), '96 (.401) and '97 (.391); field goal percentage in 1993 (.453); three-point percentage in 1993 (.405), '96 (.393) and '97 (.358); and free throw percentage in 1992 (.757).

Herrion's players earned all-conference honors 19 times at Drexel and two players at East Carolina were named to the C-USA all-freshman team.

Before going to Drexel, he was as assistant at George Washington in 1990 and '91, and at Boston University from 1985-89. He began his career as an assistant at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (1982-83) and Merrimack (1984-85).

Herrion coached under Mike Jarvis at Boston and George Washington. BU went 101-51 (.644) during that time with two North Atlantic Tournament championships, two NCAA appearances (1988 and 1990) and one NIT bid (1986). In 1991, they led GWU to a 19-12 record and a spot in the NIT, the school's first post-season tournament bid since 1961.

In addition to coaching on the college level, he spent the summer of 1995 as an assistant coach under Kelvin Sampson with the U.S. World Junior National Team that competed in Athens, Greece. In 1996, he was an assistant under Mike Montgomery on the USA Basketball 22-and-under National Team that played the U.S. "Dream Team" on national television and competed in the World Qualifying Tournament at San Juan, Puerto Rico. In 1998, he traveled to Taiwan for a coaching stint with Nike Taiwan.

Herrion, 47, and his wife, Maureen, have two children, Catlin (18) and Ryan (14). His brother, Tom, is the head coach at College of Charleston. His late father, Jim, was a high school coach in the New York City Catholic League before going to Holy Cross as an assistant and later to Worcester Polytechnic Institute as head coach.