Robert Conrad Dixon Herndon Jr. (born July 16, 1993) is a Filipino-American professional basketball player for the NLEX Road Warriors of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The GlobalPort Batang Pier selected him as the sixth overall pick in the 2017 PBA draft.
High school career
Herndon was a three-year varsity player. In his senior year, he scored 17 points in the third quarter to lead his team to a win over Arcata. He then had a game-winning layup against Sacred Heart Prep. He averaged 20.2 points,11.2 rebounds, and 1.8 steals that year. His head coach, Derek Walker called him "the best basketball player to come through St. Patrick's".
Herndon chose to play for the San Francisco State Gators, as it would allow his mother to watch his games. He was also recruited by San Beda, a Filipino university, and Utah, a NCAA Division I Pac-12 university.
Aside from basketball, Herndon was also a high school football athlete. He had 10 touchdowns and nearly 800 receiving yards in his senior season.
College career
Herndon only played two years with San Francisco State. He got his season high of 17 points to go with a team-high five rebounds, two assists, and two steals in a win over Cal State Dominguez Hills.
In his final year with SF State, Herndon tied his college career-high of 21 points to go with six rebounds in 46 minutes as they lost in triple overtime to Dominican. Later that season, he had 14 points, four rebounds, and two steals in a win over Cal State Monterey Bay. He helped them reach the CCAA semifinals where they lost to Cal Poly Pomona. After that season, he stopped playing basketball and focused on his studies. He graduated as a criminal justice major.
College statistics
Amateur career
When Herndon stopped playing basketball, he considered becoming a fireman. After getting his degree, he decided to try basketball once again and moved from California to Manila. In 2016, he won first place in the Manila Red Bull King of the Rock qualifier, beating out retired former PBA MVP Willie Miller. However, he opted to focus on pursuing a basketball career in the PBA, and Miller took his place in the tournament.
Herndon then entered the PBA D-League, where he joined Victoria's Sports – MLQU for the 2017 Aspirants' Cup. In his first game, he had 19 points and 10 rebounds in a loss to the Wang's Basketball Couriers. He then scored 27 points and 11 rebounds in a loss to the Batangas EAC Generals. He led the team with 27 points on 24 shot attempts, 11 rebounds, and six assists as they started the season 0–4. They got their first win of the season against the JRU Heavy Bombers, with him leading with 22 points. Victoria's Sports ended the conference with a win over the Blustar Detergent Dragons Malaysia, in which he had a double-double of 19 points and 13 rebounds. That conference, he averaged 18.6 points, 8.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.8 steals.
For the 2017 Foundation Cup, Herndon joined the Wang's Basketball Couriers. In a game against Batangas, he had 27 points, 14 rebounds, and a clutch three-pointer that could have sent the game into overtime. However, Batangas' Cedric de Joya converted the game-winning floater. Against the Gamboa Coffee Lovers, he scored 27 points once again as Wang's evened its record to 2–2. He then had a double-double of 17 points and 13 boards as the Couriers continued their franchise-best start. Despite the franchise-best start, Wang's failed to make it to the playoffs, and he was released from Wang's and signed by the Marinerong Pilipino Skippers. In his debut for the Skippers, he had 16 points and 10 rebounds as they forced a do-or-die Game 2 in the quarterfinals. In that Game 2, he had two clutch offensive rebounds to bring his total to 13 boards to go along with his 13 points and two steals as the Skippers moved on the semifinals. In the semifinals, they lost to the Cignal HD Hawkeyes via sweep.
Professional career
Magnolia Hotshots (2017–2019) Herndon was then drafted sixth overall in the first round of the 2017 PBA draft by the GlobalPort Batang Pier. On November 3, 2017, before playing a game with the team, Herndon was traded along with fellow rookie Gian Abrigo to the Magnolia Hotshots for Lervin Flores, Joseph Gabayni, and Julian Sargent, who are also all rookies. He was signed to a two-year contract.