The Mercer Vikings’ Men’s Basketball team is gearing up for what they hope is another successful season.
For Head Coach Howard Levy, the start of the season is a chance to keep the program trending upward following the Vikings’ playoff appearance in the 2018-19 season.
When asked about his team’s preparations for the upcoming season, Levy said, “The way we’re trying to teach these guys to play is a little more time consuming maybe than some programs so I just want to make sure we’re on an upward trajectory.”
Levy added, “the [NJCAA] playoffs are definitely a reasonable goal for us.”
James Bruestle, a sophomore center and one of the team captains, says he’s seen the building process before.
“I saw it last year, [coach] always says it’s a struggle early and by December everything starts picking up and everyone starts seeing [the floor] a little better,” Bruestle said.
When asked if the team felt any pressure to perform, Bruestle responded “there is no reason why anyone should have the thought in their mind that this team can achieve anything less than playoffs or even a championship.”
While the team’s core offensive philosophy is generally built around sharing the ball and working to create an open shot, there have been two particular standouts on the court: returning Nottingham alumnus Kevin Alexis and freshman Tyrae Green, a Philadelphia native.
Green says he’s been enjoying getting his feet wet at the college level, but says he’s just tried to do his best to get acquainted with life at MCCC, saying “It’s been good, chill, really quiet…everything’s been going smoothly.”
The preparation has translated to the stat sheet, with Green putting up 23- and 16-point performances in the team’s season opening tournament hosted by the Community College of Rhode Island.
Alexis led the team with 27- and 15-point games against respective opponents Roxbury and CCRI.
When asked about Green, his head coach said “I think he’s very talented and he’s got great instincts for the game, it’s going to take him a little while to learn what to do, but the fact that he’s been pretty effective already says that he’s got a chance to be good.”
Bruestle called both Alexis and Green “very key” but echoed his coach’s preference for sharing the ball when possible adding “we don’t want to have just one or two guys putting up big numbers, we want everybody to put up points and contribute.”
Amongst the less ball-dominant players is Alazaie Edwards, a freshman from Dimona, Israel who has provided a shooting touch from beyond the arc, giving the Vikings 25 points including 6 of 10 from beyond the arc in the CCRI Tournament.
Edwards’s journey to MCCC indicates the reach of the program, but Levy was sure to point out that regardless of where players come from, the priority is on guys who truly want to be here.
“We’re not begging anyone to come here anymore and I think that’s actually helped us in terms of getting some local kids and mostly we’ve been going on recommendations from people we trust, we’ve got some overseas connections and we’ll look at those [recommendations], but that’s how we put this together,” Levy said.
“I think [this particular group] seems to be getting along pretty well just seeing how they’re interacting here [at practice],” Levy said.
The Vikings’s next home game is against Morris County on Thursday, Dec. 12 at 7 p.m.
Admission for all games is free for students and $3.00 for all other persons. Games are played in the gymnasium, located in the Physical Education building on the West Windsor Campus.
