Bears Men's Basketball Opens Practice for 2010-11 Campaign

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer University men’s basketball team joined its peers across the country in taking the court on the first day of practice in preparation for the 2010-11 season on Friday.

MU head coach Bob Hoffman – beginning his third campaign at the MU helm – welcomed a roster of 18 players.  Among the group are eight returning players from the 2009-10 roster, two redshirt freshmen and eight newcomers (seven freshmen and one junior transfer).

 “We have our work cut out for us,” said Hoffman. “There are other teams returning more experienced players than we do, so it’s only right that they are the favorites in pre-season polls. We have to prove ourselves and they don’t.

“But what others don’t see that I do is the tremendous potential of our team. With the core group of returnees, our success is really going to boil down to how well the newcomers mesh and grow into our system. Basketball is a lot like chemistry: it’s all about ingredients and time.”

In all, Mercer is looking to replace 68 percent of its scoring, 61 percent of its rebounding and 69 percent of its three-point productivity from 2009-10.

Heading the 2010-11 cast is the quartet of seniors Brian Mills, Mark Hall, Jeff Smith, Brandon Moore. Mills and Hall are each in their fourth seasons with the Bears’ program, while Smith and Moore were JUCO transfers to the team last season.

Mills had the second-most starts of anyone on the roster, getting the nod in 32 of 33 games played. He averaged 7.8 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, while also leading the team in blocked shots (40). Mills also topped the team in shooting, notching nearly 59 percent of his field goal attempts.

Hall was a primary reserve for Hoffman last year, appearing in all 33 games off the Bears’ bench. He averaged 2.2 points per outing.

Smith and Moore both came to MU from Wallace State community college and played key roles last year for the team. Smith was the team’s third-leading scorer at 11.6 p.p.g. and hit 42 percent from the floor, while connecting on 37 percent (50-134) from beyond the arc.

Moore came off the bench in 32 of his 33 games played to add depth to Mercer’s inside game, scoring 7.8 points and grabbing 4.2 boards per appearance. He shot 56 percent from the field.

Other returning players include sophomore guard Chris Smith, sophomore guard David O’Shaughnessey, redshirt sophomores Jake Gollon and Marquisse Jackson – both of whom were on the shelf with injuries most of last season – as well as redshirt freshmen R.J. Miskimon and Ted Price.

Hoffman’s list of freshmen is comprised of Paul Larsen, Monty Brown, Daniel Coursey, Bud Thomas, Jibri Bryan, Langston Hall and Kevin Canevari. Junior transfer Justin Cecil rounds out the newcomers.