Regime change leads to roster shakeup for Mercer men's basketball
By Michael A. Lough
The Sports Report
centralgasports@gmail.com
The new regime of Greg Gary is off to a very busy start at Mercer, and his first team with the Bears won’t bear much resemblance to Bob Hoffman’s last team with the Bears.
As of Monday night, at least five players have reported through social media their intent to transfer, with one’s decision having been reported in social media.
The Bears had two seniors on the 2018-19 team, but a few other players on the roster had made transfer decisions known – or inferred as much - during the season. It’s a typical routine yearly as players realize they won’t play at a school or it wasn’t a good fit, and moreso amid a coaching change when players were overly attached to the former staff as well as a new coach perhaps seeing the need for new – and, the coach hopes, better – bodies.
There will likely be more entries into the transfer portal.
Gary was hired on March 26 and introduced to the public and media on April 3. He announced his staff on April 17.
Based on the roster still posted on Mercer’s website Monday night, 15 players are underclassmen. But which players count as scholarship players can’t be determined from that list. Division I programs are allotted 13 scholarships, but teams don’t have to use all of them.
Also, scholarship-level players may not be on a basketball scholarship, thanks to financial aid from academic achievement and need. So the impact on the scholarship numbers of the departures is an open question.
Sophomore guard Marcus Cohen tweeted his decision Monday morning.
CJ Williamson soon followed with his plans.
As did Brandon Thomas, who was likely to transfer before the coaching change:
D.J. Peavy was reportedly already set to transfer, and tweeted on April 19 that he is headed back to Texas to play for Collin College, a junior college.
Fardaws Aimaq’s plans emerged around April 8 from a Canadian scouting service, and it’s reported he is considering Vermont, Boise State, Utah Valley, and Southern Illinois.
Of the five, Cohen played the most minutes, sixth with 21.3 a game. He averaged 4.6 points and 3.7 assists a game, but shot only 44.8 percent from the line and tried but two 3-pointers.
Aimaq, a 6-11 freshman from British Columbia, was next with 14.9 minutes, 5 points and 5.3 rebounds.
Peavy averaged 7.9 minutes in 17 games and Williamson 4.7 in 26. Thomas was apparently redshirted (teams don’t need to announce redshirt status).
An addition appears to be Neftali Alvarez, a 6-2 freshman transferring from Fairfield, which also underwent a coaching change this spring. He was a Mr. Miami basketball his senior year at Miami Christian, and a finalist for the state honor.
Among the new staffers is Juan Cardona, coming from the head coaching spot at Miami Christian, from where Mercer also got the recent verbal commitment from Diego Rivera, who helped the Victors to consecutive state titles under Cardona.
Former Westside standout Khavon Moore announced his decision last week to transfer from Texas Tech after basically sitting out last season from an injury suffered late in his senior year with the Seminoles.
He stated family reasons as part of the decision, and Mercer was a finalist when he chose Texas Tech last year. If he receives a medical hardship, he would be eligible in 2019-20.
Social media reports also have Mercer inquiring about Maryland transfer Trace Ramsey.
Mercer has a verbal commitment from Kamar Robertson of Class 6A Cambridge in Alpharetta.
Guard Marco Anthony of Virginia declared his entry Monday to the portal, and he was initially recruited by Mercer, Texas-El Paso, and Iowa State, among others, and could consider the Bears again.
Under normal circumstances, transfers have to sit out a year. Junior college transfers who have graduated are immediately eligible, as are junior college transfers who initially qualified for a four-year scholarship under NCAA standards but chose junior college.
Mercer is set to return second-team all-conference guard Ross Cummings and guard Ethan Stair, among others. Of the 10 underclassmen left – excluding the five transferring – Mercer has five guards, four forward, and a center.
Cummings and Stair played 33.5 and 32.7 minutes game. Next most among those currently set to return is Djordje Dimitrijevic at 22.8 (fourth). He played in all 31 games and started 14.
Then it drops to center Victor Buffuto, ninth with eight minutes, having played in 30 games with no starts.