Bud Thomas (Episode 8) -“A quiet assassin”

Sportsmic  is proud to partner with the Mercer Sports Network to commemorate Mercer’s 2014 victory over Duke in the NCAA Basketball Tournament.  Interviews with figures from the 2013-2014 era will air during the  halftime radio show for the next nine games.

Today’s episode features Mercer University forward, Bud Thomas,  as he discusses his memories of the 2014 season.

The series is hosted by “Voice of the Bears”, Rick Cameron.

In episode eight, Thomas recalls the elements of the 2014 team which lead to success in the NCAA Tournamanet Vs. Duke.

Join us for ” A quiet assassin”,  the story of the Mercer men’s basketball team and their 2014 NCAA tournament win against Duke.

About the 2013-2014 Mercer Team (Makenzie Jones, Assistant Media Relations Director, Mercer Sports)

In Mercer’s final year as a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference, head coach Bob Hoffman and the team captured the tournament title, Coach of the Year, Player of the Year (Langston Hall), Defensive Player of the Year (Daniel Coursey), and Scholar-Athlete of the Year (Jakob Gollon). The 2013-14 Mercer team was the only team in the country that started the same five seniors every game that season. By the Duke game, four of those five were starting their 104th game together.

The Bears ended the game on an 18-8 run to win the university’s first NCAA tournament game in the 108-year history of the men’s basketball program. Cheers of Mercer fans filled PNC arena as the team fought against the winningest coach and team in NCAA history. The story graced the pages of of The New York Times, Washington Post, and USA Today and brought millions of eyes to the Mercer name. On March 21, the day of the game, “Mercer” or a phrase containing the word, was the most-searched term on Google by a landslide.

The season culminated with the team being awarded and ESPY for the biggest upset of the year.  

Future interviews will be archived here and on the Sportsmic App “Mercer Legends” button.  .  Download the Sportsmic App to follow Rick Cameron’s call of the Bears and to listen to the archived Mercer Legends series.