In a matter of a year, Phillip Leonard went from playing junior college basketball to beating Duke in the NCAA Tournament. He played alongside future Miami Heat summer league team member Langston Hall. He was a part of a team who won an ESPY for “Best Upset.” And he witnessed people asking his ...
Grant Radakovich and Tony Perella are more than teammates. Long before the pair became a part of the Day Ones — Mercer’s first football recruiting class — their families had forged a bond that crossed religious and ethnic lines during the mid-1900s. Grant and Tony became aware of the connection ...
New faces have dominated the Mercer women’s golf team this season. After the resignation of seven-year head coach Gary Guyer, former Ole Miss coach Michele Drinkard was hired in June to lead the program. She wasn’t the only acquisition. Freshmen Mary Janiga, Payton Schanen, Terese Romeo and Hailey ...
Golf is a uniquely individual sport, but collegiate golf is different because it combines scores from the top five players who compete. The highest score, the worst score, is dropped and the remaining four make up the total. The Mercer Men’s Golf team is undoubtedly that: a team. However, individual ...
With just a glance, you may think Linnea Rosendal is like any other college freshman at Mercer University: beautiful, happy and proudly proclaiming an undecided major. But the 6’1 point guard from Sweden has been distinguishing herself since the day she set foot on campus. “I came here in August ...
As bright lights illuminated the hardcourt days after the death of Jibri Bryan, a mourning Hawkins Arena erupted in elation as a 6-foot-8 gliding sophomore jumped from just inside the free-throw line to throw down a bear-sized slam. It was the highlight of an emotional victory. It was a SportsCenter ...
The Mercer women’s lacrosse team is in their second competitive season, but there are some changes. With a new coaching staff, the players are starting fresh — again. This year’s team dynamic, including the relationship between player and coach, is nothing like last year, members of the group ...
The Mercer men’s lacrosse team kicked off their 2016 season over the weekend against Towson. Although the Bears lost the hard-fought match, the game proved to be very instructive, showing the team what they will need to work on in order to meet future success. “Opening the season against a top ...
Whenever Jibri Bryan jumped above the rim in Hawkins Arena, the stadium lights would almost form a halo around his 6-foot-4 frame. The sixth-year senior will never step foot on the court again. He was tragically shot and killed on Feb. 2 at the Flash Foods gas station on the corner of Forsyth and ...
Mercer basketball dropped its fifth straight game Saturday in a 77-74 loss to East Tennessee State. It’s the first time a Bob Hoffman-led team has lost five games in a row, and the program hasn’t done so since the end of the 2007-08 season. But I saw signs of progress and hope Saturday. (1) Don’t ...
Three was the number of points Mercer needed and the number of opportunities it had to tie the game in the final seconds. But when the clock struck zero, the Bears (18-11, 8-8) had come up short, 77-74. The loss was Mercer’s fifth in a row — the worst such streak during head coach Bob Hoffman’s ...
Mercer basketball matched its longest losing streak in over five years with a 72-65 loss to Western Carolina Thursday at Hawkins Arena. Here are my three takeaways from the loss: (1) The loss of Jestin Lewis and Desmond Ringer has been more difficult than expected. When I first got the official statement ...
I may be the only student at Mercer who does not have a picture with Toby the Bear, and this is no accident. Confession: mascots kind of freak me out. This mild fear may potentially be rooted in a repressed childhood trauma but go ahead and add it to the long list of things I cannot explain about myself. ...
Mercer could not have asked for a better start, but they needed a stronger finish. In their first home game following a short road trip, The Bears (18-10, 8-7) jumped out to an early lead, but their quick start fizzled. The Catamounts outscored the Bears 39-31 in the second half to defeat Mercer 72-65. The ...
Hayden Blessing is a shoe fanatic. For years, the former college basketball player has been collecting $300 Jordans in his closet. But one day three years ago, that all changed. Blessing, a PE teacher and basketball coach, was instructing his first grade PE class one day when a little boy came up ...
After his very last basketball game, a high school-aged Thomas Norton couldn’t bring himself to walk away at first. He sat in a corner of the locker room alone, holding onto his things and not yet ready to leave. He hesitated even when his father came to retrieve him. Years later, he’s experiencing ...
Down starters Jestin Lewis and Desmond Ringer for the second straight game, the Mercer Bears took SoCon-leading Chattanooga to overtime Monday. The Bears ran out of gas in the extra period as the Mocs handed Mercer its first loss at home this year, 72-66. Chattanooga (22-3, 11-1) extended its winning ...
Amid the mourning of sixth-year senior Jibri Bryan's death and the suspensions of starters Jestin Lewis and Desmond Ringer, the Mercer men's basketball team threw down a season-high eight thunderous dunks en route to an 88-72 win over The Citadel. Mercer (18-6, 8-3) showed no signs of ill effects from ...
Four. Seven. Thirteen. Twenty-four. Forty-two. No, those aren’t the numbers of the white balls in the billion-dollar Powerball drawing in January — they’re the five numbers retired by Mercer basketball. It’s time to make it six. Jibri Bryan cannot grace us with his presence on and off the basketball ...
As the Sports Editor, I feel it is my duty to write this piece — albeit with a heavy heart. I would like to take this opportunity and use my platform to speak to his family, friends and teammates. To the Bryan family, I can't even begin to understand the pain you must be feeling. I know that this ...
Solutions by The State News