Mercer basketball teams have plenty of new faces

There is a lot of new around the Mercer basketball offices this season.

Both teams have several news players and returning players who will take on new roles. And both teams have new assistant coaches, as well.

But head coaches Bob Hoffman and Susie Gardner sound excited about the challenges facing their teams, which open their seasons Nov. 13 with a doubleheader at Hawkins Arena, the women against Coastal Georgia and the men against Allen.

Hoffman's team includes three freshmen, along with two players who transferred into the program and sat out last season, one new assistant coach and one assistant coach who moved up from the graduate level.

"I like our team. I like how they are working together," Hoffman said. "We still have a lot of work to do, but every day they are coming with a tremendous attitude, and their work ethics are off the chart. That part is fun when you are able to go out there and get to see them put in the work to be successful.

"The one thing I will tell you is I believe we will be in every game. We are going to fight for every game just like we did last year; we were a couple baskets from being in contention to win the league. I love how our team competes, and I believe we will be right there again. We have a tremendous schedule that will put us in a great position once we get to conference play."

Andrew Fishler and Desmond Ringer aren't exactly new to the program, but they had to sit out last year after transferring to Mercer. Fishler is 7-foot-1 and Ringer is 6-9 and 255 pounds, adding plenty of size to the Bears' roster. The three freshmen are guards Jaylen Stowe and Ethan Stair and forward Cory Kilby.

The Bears' senior class is made up of guards Phillip Leonard, Jibri Bryan and Jestin Lewis, while Jordan Strawberry and Stephon Jelks return after strong freshman seasons.

Jarred Merrill joined the program as an assistant coach, while Jason Eaker is in his first season as a full-time assistant after serving as a graduate assistant the past couple of seasons.

"One other thing I would say about our team is we have a lot of new players," Hoffman said. "We have three freshmen that are getting indoctrinated. We had a scrimmage we can't talk about (Sunday) by NCAA rules against another NCAA institution. It went OK but not great, but (the freshmen) got their feet wet, and we had two post players, 7-1 Andrew Fishler and 6-9 Desmond Ringer who were sitting out last year, who did a great job. We look for them to do tremendous things as we get into the season."

There are even more new faces in Gardner's program.

The Bears have seven freshmen (former Mary Persons guard KeKe Calloway, former Dodge County center Rachel Selph, guard/forward Kyesha Lewis, forward Amanda Thompson, guard Callie Hackett, guard/forward Linnea Rosendal and forward/center Ally Welch) and a junior college transfer (center Ciarra Edwards). There are also six sophomores, led by Kahlia Lawrence, who was last season's Southern Conference freshman of the year.

"I think, for me, I've got to keep it simple, and for them, there's going to be scenarios and points in time when I call an out-of-bounds play or a set play, and they're not going to remember what to do," Gardner said. "So my message to them this year has been, 'Let's play as hard as we can. If you don't know what you're doing, act like you know what you're doing and just do it as hard as you can.' I think that's what is going to happen. There are going to be times early on when it's going to look like it is a pick-up game, but I'll tell you, we're going to be so different as a team in late January and February."

Gardner also has a new coaching staff in Macon native Trelanne M. Powell, Tiffany Morton, Ben Wierzba and director of basketball operations Seth Ralston.

"We have one player on our team that played significant minutes in Division I basketball last year, and that was Kahlia," Gardner said. "We have eight new players that are new to Mercer, but if you want to be honest, a lot of those sophomores that are back didn't see the floor a whole lot. I've had to remind myself to be patient, but they are quick learners, they're excited, and it's an incredible group. It's so much more fun to coach players when you're teaching them with sternness, and they are saying, 'Yes ma'am,' instead of looking at you like you have three heads.

"That's exactly what's happened this year; this team really wants to learn, they're positive, and we have made great strides in a short amount of time."

This story was originally published October 26, 2015 at 3:47 PM with the headline "Mercer basketball teams have plenty of new faces ."