Coach Herman "Tree" Harried: 2025 McDonald’s All-American Games Head Coach, Athletic Director & Boys Basketball Head Coach

Coach Herman "Tree" Harried has been immersed in the world of basketball for as long as he can remember. Growing up in Baltimore City, Coach Tree recalls quickly fostering a strong commitment to playing the game at the highest level shortly after beginning his journey in basketball. This was it. This love and passion for the sport was the fuel that, over the next few years, would prompt his relentless commitment to the game. Throughout his time in high school and college—at Dunbar High School and Syracuse University respectively—, Coach Tree continued to develop his game and expand his knowledge of the sport. He was on a mission. Sure enough, upon graduating from Syracuse, Coach Tree achieved his dream of playing basketball at the highest level and embarked on his professional career overseas. It was up from there. After five years overseas, Coach Tree was presented with an opportunity to tap into another side of basketball.

A side that would keep him close to the game while also providing him with a chance to give back to the next generation of athletes: coaching. The rest is history! From beginning his journey at Loyola College in Baltimore as an assistant coach to then joining Lake Clifton as the Boys Basketball Head Coach that following year, Coach Tree officially embarked on his coaching career and did not look back. Over the past 29 years, he has built an incredible legacy: winning multiple city, state and regional championships, earning several Coach of the Year honors, and even coaching with prestigious organizations such as USA Basketball and Nike Basketball. Most recently, Coach Tree achieved another incredible milestone after being named the 2025 McDonald's All American Games Head Coach for the East Team. Through it all though, he remains grounded on his love of the game, passion for mentorship, and commitment to making a positive impact on the lives of young athletes both on and off the court. Truly inspiring!

Take us all the way back! How did you get started in the industry?

I started playing basketball at 11 years old at a rec center. From there, I played at Dunbar High School—which is a nationally, well-known high school with the great Bob Wade—and then at Syracuse University. After Syracuse, I played overseas for five years. A gentleman that I met years ago in my early basketball journey, Brian Ellerbe—I met him through a college friend of mine earlier in some years—called me once years later when he was at Loyola College in Baltimore and asked: “Would you be interested in coaching?” I was still currently playing over in England. When he asked me, I said ‘yes’ because any former player or any current player probably has ambitions to stay connected (to the game) and become a coach. Right then and there he said, “I need you to start tomorrow.” So I was done. I had to call the team in England. I was fortunate enough to be on a team where we won two championships back-to-back, so I just looked at it as God saying: “I'm giving you another phase of your basketball life and you need to take it while you got it.” Loyola College is in Baltimore and only like five minutes from my house so I was like: “It can't get no better than this.” From there, I coached with Brian Ellerbe for a year. Then, he left to go to Michigan that following year as an assistant and Lake Clifton came open. The AD, Dr. Ruth Travis, and my rec league coach called me and asked if I would be interested in coaching. The head coach, Charlie Moore, had an accident where he couldn't coach anymore. Once again, I ran with the opportunity because I just believe opportunities don’t come all the time. You gotta take them where you can get them. It was crazy because I was coaching at the rival school—Lake Clifton. It’s crazy because I've given my love and soul to the rival school during my high school career.

You played at every level—high school, college, professional. What were some key takeaways or lessons that you learned as a student-athlete and as a professional athlete that you carried with you as you embarked on your career in coaching?

The discipline, the work ethic, the (importance) of collaborating with other people, and having order. I think a lot of coaches don't realize the impression that we can make on young people if we just use sports properly. It can make such an impression on players having a more solid life possibly—I ain't even saying athletic career, I just said life. Playing with the positive coach that I had and with the collaboration of my home—I was raised in an old-school home where I was the youngest of four sisters, my mom took care of homes, sewed and did things like that, and my father worked. I saw the teamwork of my mother and father as well so I just was blessed with all avenues of the lens of collaboration and teamwork. I just took that into what I'm currently doing. I always tell my players: “I'm a man that just happens to be a coach. I’m not a coach that's just a coach.” There’s different categories of coaching and I take a lot of pride in using my life experiences—along with basketball and just growing up—to guide young men and give them a different lens of living by way of basketball.