Cameron Mercer doesn’t want to be thought of as a one-dimensional basketball player.
As the 6-3 guard heads into his final season at Riverside-Brookfield, he continues to work on his overall game.
“I mainly (want to) improve around everything, but mainly my ball-handling,” Mercer told Southwest Regional at last month’s Riverside-Brookfield Shootout. “I feel like last year I was more stuck on the wing, catch-and-shoot. So now I’m trying to create for myself and my teammates.”
The Bulldogs are coming off a 21-10 season in which they shared the Upstate Eight East title with Glenbard East. With leading scorer Danny Loftus and point guard Vince Dockendorf graduated, this is Mercer’s team now. He’s not shying away from that responsibility.
“Last year, I didn’t feel like I was … a vocal leader,” Mercer said. “I was more of a physical leader, an in-game leader. So I approach (this season) as (being) a vocal leader. … Even if I do good on the stat sheet, it’s on me — I’ve got to get the team together.”
He’ll have some help. Mercer had 26-point games against Thornwood and Rock Island as the Bulldogs went 3-1 at their own shootout. Noah Van Tholen, a 6-4 sophomore point guard, put up 20 points vs. St. Ignatius and senior guard Liam Enright is another player to watch.
What can this group accomplish?
“The goal right now is a regional title,” Mercer said, noting that’s something the Bulldogs haven’t earned since going back-to-back in 2019 and ’20.
He’s also playing for his future. Furman, Stanford and Illinois State are among the schools that have shown the most interest so far.
“Recruiting has been different throughout the years,” Mercer said, referring to college coaches’ increasing reliance on the transfer portal. “… It’s gonna be harder for a high-school kid like me … but I’m ready for the challenge.”
New look for Crusaders
This has been a summer of change at Brother Rice, which lost its coach and six of the top seven players from the 31-7 team that fell to DePaul Prep in the Class 3A state final. Gone are all five starters, including Southwest Regional Player of the Year and Citadel recruit Marcos Gonzales and No. 2 scorer Jack Weigus.
Former Marian Catholic coach Rick Romeli takes over for Conte Stamas, who stepped down after winning 91 games in three seasons. The most experienced player back is 6-7 senior forward Joe Niego, who played in 31 of the Crusaders’ 38 games last year.
“My job was just going in there for, like, a minute, two minutes (to) get rebounds,” Niego told Southwest Regional at the Riverside-Brookfield Shootout. “Usually I didn’t shoot it that much. … This year, I’ve got the keys to the team.”
Niego appreciates the confidence Romeli has in him.
“He just said (to) shoot it when I can. … I’m gonna make some noise this year and just build off last year’s experience in those big games.”
“I don’t think Joe knows how good he could potentially be as we move through the season,” Romeli said. “The expectation we’ve talked to him about is being an all-conference guy.”