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Understandable after losing to UNF and Upstate this year. But there isn't another coach in this league, as good as they are, that has won a national coach of the year title and brought more national attention to a school that shouldn't receive any at all in terms of athletics. He has been arguably the most important figure at Mercer over the last decade. He did things the right way, and besides 4 players being dismissed from school, he seemed to always graduate his players. He will be missed.
MercerFan you have your wish.
p.s. the race for the services of florence and emerson is on. hope the new coach finds a way to keep them.
Wow. Good for them if the guy wasn't working out recently. 11 years of service, thank you but what have you done recently? I know MercerFan is going to be happy. We'll see how happy he is about the next choice though, his replacement.
I was a big fan of Slonaker building the program from last in D1 up to the conference championship season in 02-03. But, he's only had 2 winning seasons in 11 years at Mercer. Key injuries cost him a couple more winning seasons in the early 00's, but he's had 3 losing seasons in a row. I admire the way he did things, but I guess the UNF loss was icing on the cake. He just wasn't able to take the program to the next step after moving into the new arena. I'm glad Mercer is demanding some level of return on their investment. I hope they find a coach that can lead them to another conference championship in the next two years. I'll pack my bags and follow them to the regional. I think it's realistic for Mercer's basketball program to rival Belmont's. Why should Mercer expect any less?
Coach Slonaker brought some great memories with Wesley Duke, James Odoms, Damitrius Coleman, and many other great players. I will enjoy those memories, and I'm sure Slonaker will as well. We've always said he seems like a very nice person, so this must have been a hard move for the A.D. to make.
I think Toby makes the best comments here about our situation and the past 11 years... Now it's time to start a search! Get Sam Mitchell on the phone if at all possible! Beg him to coach us... 99% chance he declines... then ask him for leads on young coaches/or experienced coaches looking for a change.
Mercer now has a baseball coach who is taking that program from dust to the top 80 in the country... Mercer has cleared house in the women's basketball program... and now they feel it's time for the Men's program to win championships. Mercer finally seems to have a vision of being a winner.
mubear Wrote:p.s. the race for the services of florence and emerson is on. hope the new coach finds a way to keep them.
I don't think Emerson can leave and play basketball somewhere else. He already transferred in, so I think that would be against the rules. I'm not sure though.
Just checking in on the Macon Telegraph to see the reaction around town. Interesting articles.
First article:
http://www.macon.com/170/story/278918.html
There is the Class we all know from Coach Slonaker that MercerFan has been ripping him about all year. He seems to be taking it well. Just shows his impact at Mercer was more than x's and o's.
Second article:
http://www.macon.com/170/story/278921.html
And you aren't worried about Danny Emerson leaving??? They better have somebody in mind already or this stockpile of talent is going to trickle out of town and we will have to rebuild for another 3 years.
Nice articles by the Telgraph, they really nail all of the facts about how horrible the Mercer program has become. I really didn't know much about Pope & Underwood, but I'm relieved to know that they want Mercer to be a winner.
Yes I've been ripping him for certain issues. I'm not going to kick a man when he's down, what was said in the past was justified with facts. but it's over and now we're dealing with the next step, a new coach.
As for Emerson, I'm extremely concerned about his comments. Not because I think he might "leave us" though! Who cares! This is a guy who hasn't played ONE minute in a Mercer game, and he's making public comments on the program? Well we didn't win a championship (a real championship) with Will Emerson AND Wesley Duke!! The last person I want to hear comments from is some kid who hasn't shown us a thing.
Don't worry Mubear, the core talent isn't going anywhere. Trust me. They want to win. Florence putting up about a 35% FG percentage and a sub 30% 3PT percent isn't going to get him to another D1 program (except a deep bench somewhere). A new coach is exactly what Florence needs to get back on track.
This is an exciting time for Mercer. I've always wondered if the A.D. and department in general really cared about winning. I've wondered if they really pay attention to every win/loss. Well we can put those concerns to bed!
mubear Wrote:They better have somebody in mind already or this stockpile of talent is going to trickle out of town and we will have to rebuild for another 3 years.
Sorry but in order to re-build, you first have to build something. We've been building for the last 5 years.
Mercer can take their time and find the right coach. Or they might already have someone. I'll be checking after Mercer's season officially ends. We might get a surprise announcement. who knows?