Proud Mercer alum! | Syracusefan.com

Proud Mercer alum!

Well done.

They put another powerhouse in the midwest
 
Start working those alumni connections for the regionals next week in Indy. Mercer can beat either Tennessee or UMass no problem.
 
Syracuse is my first love and always will be but I can't tell you guys what this means to me. My freshman and sophomore year Mercer made the conference tournament championship game but came up short each time. My junior year and senior year, we just fell apart. We went like 3-23 my senior year. Our claim to fame back then was that we were coached by Bill Hodges, Larry Bird's college coach.

All four years, we never really got much support. We used to play off campus in the 10000 seat Macon Coliseum and I would ask my friends in the dorm if they were going to the game and they looked at me like my head was purple or something. But I would be there with a few hundred loyal supporters. We improved a little bit with the next coach but were basically stuck in the middle of the conference. Finally in 2005, they opened the University Center, our on-campus 3500 arena. (This was supposed to open in 1998 so I would be the first class to graduate in it). That made a huge difference in improving the atmosphere for the games. Coach Hoffman has turned out to be a great hire when we got him in 2008. It actually came down to him or Rex Walters and I have to be honest, I wanted the more high profile name. But Coach Hoffman is a veteran coach and has had quite a varied career, even moving over to coach women for a few years, and he has done a fantastic job. Just a great fit for the program. I wasn't sure if this group would ever make it once we lost in the conference championship game the past 2 years. But they finally did it as seniors! We beat Seton Hall and Ole Miss this year and finally beat Fla Gulf Coast to make the Big Dance.

And we just beat Duke today and I never would have imagined it when I was a student!!!!
 
MSOrange said:
Syracuse is my first love and always will be but I can't tell you guys what this means to me. My freshman and sophomore year Mercer made the conference tournament championship game but came up short each time. My junior year and senior year, we just fell apart. We went like 3-23 my senior year. Our claim to fame back then was that we were coached by Bill Hodges, Larry Bird's college coach.

All four years, we never really got much support. We used to play off campus in the 10000 seat Macon Coliseum and I would ask my friends in the dorm if they were going to the game and they looked at me like my head was purple or something. But I would be there with a few hundred loyal supporters. We improved a little bit with the next coach but were basically stuck in the middle of the conference. Finally in 2005, they opened the University Center, our on-campus 3500 arena. (This was supposed to open in 1998 so I would be the first class to graduate in it). That made a huge difference in improving the atmosphere for the games. Coach Hoffman has turned out to be a great hire when we got him in 2008. It actually came down to him or Rex Walters and I have to be honest, I wanted the more high profile name. But Coach Hoffman is a veteran coach and has had quite a varied career, even moving over to coach women for a few years, and he has done a fantastic job. Just a great fit for the program. I wasn't sure if this group would ever make it once we lost in the conference championship game the past 2 years. But they finally did it as seniors! We beat Seton Hall and Ole Miss this year and finally beat Fla Gulf Coast to make the Big Dance.

And we just beat Duke today and I never would have imagined it when I was a student!!!!
Expand...
As the FGCU guy on the bored I honestly wasn't sure how to feel about Mercer winning at first. After careful consideration though I am very pleased with their win, you guys have a great team and have a good chance to duplicate or sweet sixteen run (or one up it). This is great exposure for the A-Sun and my only wish is that you guys would stay in the conference. There was a great mid-major rivalry brewing between us and its a shame that it is going to have to end before it even truly got started. I for one will be cheering on the Bears for the rest of there stay in the bracket.
 
SWFLCUSE said:
As the FGCU guy on the bored I honestly wasn't sure how to feel about Mercer winning at first. After careful consideration though I am very pleased with their win, you guys have a great team and have a good chance to duplicate or sweet sixteen run (or one up it). This is great exposure for the A-Sun and my only wish is that you guys would stay in the conference. There was a great mid-major rivalry brewing between us and its a shame that it is going to have to end before it even truly got started. I for one will be cheering on the Bears for the rest of there stay in the bracket.
Expand...

Thanks for the support! I hope we can keep playing FGCU also. It was turning into an exciting series. I would be more excited about joining the Southern Conference if GA Southern (for the in-state rivalry) and Davidson were not leaving.
 
epic kill ! kount k never saw it coming. did you party with the frog brothers mercers '97 ?

00314351-457x300.jpg
 
MSOrange said:
Holy crap we did it! I don't believe it! Class of 1998!
Expand...

Congrats. Good friend is Mercer Alum and Bball player. Only time I have seen him like this was when his son was born. He's like a giddy little school girl.
 
br801 said:
As sports fans, we only get a handful of "forever" moments. I think this one will be one of yours. :cool:
Expand...

This will definitely be my Mercer forever moment! We actually played Duke my senior year in 1998 at Cameron. Uh Duke won 128-64. And trust me, there really was that much difference between the two teams. That was 16 years ago but just goes to show how much college basketball has changed since then.
 
MSOrange said:
Holy crap we did it! I don't believe it! Class of 1998!
Expand...
As a former Macon resident for 16 years, and an attendee of many Mercer games in the Macon Coliseum, I share your joy in a colossal victory! My two favorite Mercer moments were watching Sam Mitchell (Minnesota Timberwolves), probably the best player ever at Mercer, and also seeing North Carolina come into the Coliseum. Go Mercer - beat the V0ls!!!!
 
From a future FGCU student ( I'm starting there in the fall), congrats! Keep it going! And good luck in your new conference next season!
 
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