About seven years before they made history in Philadelphia, Jim Herron put up a basketball hoop in the backyard of his family's home on Wilmington Place, SE, in the Congress Heights neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The nets wore out constantly. "I always had to make sure to keep a good net up," he recalled. "They wore out. My sons are good shooters, you know."
Jim Herron walks with a limp and worked for the District government. His wife died while Larry was still weighing college offers — a family tragedy that reshaped everything. For a time, Bill Musselman at Minnesota had the inside track for Larry's commitment. But with Mrs. Herron gone, Larry settled on Villanova for what he called "the family atmosphere," knowing his father would be able to make most of the games. Keith and Reggie followed.
All three brothers came up through Mackin High School in Washington — Larry and Keith graduated from Mackin, and Reggie transferred to Ballou for his senior year. That backyard hoop on Wilmington Place was the de facto recreation center for the whole neighborhood: "When I come home every day from work," Jim said, "eight or ten kids will come play there."
