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SoCon coaches on hot seat?

PostPosted:Thu Jun 08, 2023 4:28 pm
by FU Hoopla
Just at quick glance I can think of only one that could be 'out' if this season is a struggle, Greg Gary might be sitting on a hot seat this year if Mercer does not find a winning season.

For the life of me I can't figure out why Mercer is not signing more players, still sitting at 9 scholarship guys, so while FU is reporting for summer workouts with the full 13 roster, Mercer appears to barely be able to field a team currently, heaven forbid they have any injuries as well, just strange............

https://www.verbalcommits.com/schools/mercer

Re: SoCon coaches on hot seat?

PostPosted:Thu Jun 08, 2023 4:50 pm
by FUBeAR
FU Hoopla wrote:
Thu Jun 08, 2023 4:28 pm
Just at quick glance I can think of only one that could be 'out' if this season is a struggle, Greg Gary might be sitting on a hot seat this year if Mercer does not find a winning season.

For the life of me I can't figure out why Mercer is not signing more players, still sitting at 9 scholarship guys, so while FU is reporting for summer workouts with the full 13 roster, Mercer appears to barely be able to field a team currently, heaven forbid they have any injuries as well, just strange............

https://www.verbalcommits.com/schools/mercer
Correct.

There was a lot of momentum in Maconga to make a change after this season, especially because Gary replaced a Coach who was well-liked by the fans and who had led them to their most notable season and victory (over Duke) in the 1st round of the NCAA tournament. Very similar to Furman this year without the last second drama & heroics.

But the bottom began to fall out and the bloom quickly withered from the rose a couple of seasons later with the murder of a very popular player during, what turned out to be, a drug deal gone bad. Mercer was 17-6/7-3 at the time and went 2-9 after that. And Mercer hoops, under the prior Coach, just never fully recovered from that.

Gary came in with high hopes and a very solid resume, but he / Mercer doesn’t seem to have transitioned well to the portal era. Not many have, but Mercer seems especially lost in their roster management. FUBeAR doesn’t really follow it that closely, but that”s what he hears from his Mercer peeps. Unless Gary has a remarkable season, Mercer will make a change after the 2023-2024 season.

Re: SoCon coaches on hot seat?

PostPosted:Thu Jun 08, 2023 4:55 pm
by FU Hoopla
FUBeAR wrote:
Thu Jun 08, 2023 4:50 pm
FU Hoopla wrote:
Thu Jun 08, 2023 4:28 pm
Just at quick glance I can think of only one that could be 'out' if this season is a struggle, Greg Gary might be sitting on a hot seat this year if Mercer does not find a winning season.

For the life of me I can't figure out why Mercer is not signing more players, still sitting at 9 scholarship guys, so while FU is reporting for summer workouts with the full 13 roster, Mercer appears to barely be able to field a team currently, heaven forbid they have any injuries as well, just strange............

https://www.verbalcommits.com/schools/mercer
Correct.

There was a lot of momentum in Maconga to make a change after this season, especially because Gary replaced a Coach who was well-liked by the fans and who had led them to their most notable season and victory (over Duke) in the 1st round of the NCAA tournament. Very similar to Furman this year without the last second drama & heroics.

But the bottom began to fall out and the bloom quickly withered from the rose a couple of seasons later with the murder of a very popular player during, what turned out to be, a drug deal gone bad. Mercer was 17-6/7-3 at the time and went 2-9 after that. And Mercer hoops, under the prior Coach, just never fully recovered from that.

Gary came in with high hopes and a very solid resume, but he / Mercer doesn’t seem to have transitioned well to the portal era. Not many have, but Mercer seems especially lost in their roster management. FUBeAR doesn’t really follow it that closely, but that”s what he hears from his Mercer peeps. Unless Gary has a remarkable season, Mercer will make a change after the 2023-2024 season.

Make sense

Re: SoCon coaches on hot seat?

PostPosted:Sun Jun 18, 2023 9:03 pm
by FurmanFan23
I would also make the case that Bucky is also on the hot seat. If he was at FU he would be. Although Samford did reward him with a hefty contract after not making the tournament… The rich keep getting richer

Re: SoCon coaches on hot seat?

PostPosted:Sun Jun 18, 2023 9:28 pm
by stonemd
Samford was regular season cochamps and coach just got a 7 year extension. That doesn’t scream hot seat to me

Re: SoCon coaches on hot seat?

PostPosted:Sun Jun 18, 2023 9:43 pm
by FurmanFan23
Regular season champs without any socon tournament wins. The same could have been said for Bob but we all know that he maintains a better program.

Re: SoCon coaches on hot seat?

PostPosted:Sun Jun 18, 2023 9:44 pm
by FurmanFan23
Bucky doesn’t have players stick around either….

Re: SoCon coaches on hot seat?

PostPosted:Sun Jun 18, 2023 11:31 pm
by tya1
Don't know why anyone would think Bucky is in any trouble. He has been head coach for three seasons and has won two coach of the year awards. In 21-22 they increased their win total by 15 over the previous year and he got the first honor. This year they won over 20 games again and were regular season co-champs.

Much more likely that he moves up the coaching ladder than that he is fired anytime soon.

Re: SoCon coaches on hot seat?

PostPosted:Mon Jun 19, 2023 9:24 am
by FU Hoopla
Any coach in the SoCon could win less than 10 games this year and be just fine with the exception of Mercer's Greg Gary

Re: SoCon coaches on hot seat?

PostPosted:Mon Jun 19, 2023 10:46 am
by KingPaladin
FU Hoopla wrote:
Mon Jun 19, 2023 9:24 am
Any coach in the SoCon could win less than 10 games this year and be just fine with the exception of Mercer's Greg Gary
Correct, even feel like the Citadel coach will have an enormous leash for a while given his history there too even if they are horrible

Re: SoCon coaches on hot seat?

PostPosted:Mon Jun 19, 2023 8:53 pm
by tya1
It may or may not mean anything, but Kent Jackson, a 6'2" guard from Jacksonville, FL and the class of 2024, who had committed to Mercer, has decommitted and immediately began picking up new offers from Chattanooga, and William & Mary. Maybe he is hearing rumors. Would not be surprising if some of them were passed on by other coaches.