Mercer basketball coaches confident ahead of upcoming seasons
At their media day on Monday, both coaches said they are optimistic after coming off winning seasons in their first year of Southern Conference play.
Last year, the men finished with a 19-16 record and a 12-6 record in conference play. The season came to a close with a 71-69 loss to UL-Monroe in the quarterfinals of the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) postseason tournament. This year, the Mercer Men’s Basketball team is predicted to finish 3rd in the Southern Conference and is returning 12 players, including 2 starters. When asked what needs to be improved going into this year, head coach Bob Hoffman said, “…our communication is not where it needs to be.” Hoffman also said he expects his older players to step up and lead.
There are three seniors on this year’s Bears roster – guards Phillip Leonard, Jibri Bryan and Jestin Lewis. Hoffman expects the trio to step up in a big way for the Bears for the upcoming season.
When asked what he thinks of his team’s chances in the Southern Conference, Bryan said, “I know we can win it all.”
The Mercer women’s basketball team, led by head coach Susie Gardner, doesn’t have the same senior leadership as the men’s team. The team includes seven freshman, six sophomores and one junior. The only player to see significant playing time at a Division 1 school last year was sophomore guard Kahlia Lawrence. When asked how she plans to deal with the lack of experience on her roster, Gardner said they have to “keep it simple.” Gardner trusts her young group of players and is confident they will follow the lead of Lawrence and other Bears who have stepped into leadership roles. One of those players is freshman guard/forward Amanda Thompson, who said “We want to get better every day at practice”.
The men’s team opens the season at home against Allen University on Friday, November 13th at 7:30 p.m. The women open their season the same night at home against Coastal Georgia at 5:00 p.m.
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