Cameron Mercer is in some elite company at Riverside-Brookfield.
On Dec. 26, the senior passed the 1,000-point mark during the Bulldogs’ win over Andrew at York’s Jack Tosh Holiday Classic.
“R-B’s been playing basketball since 1908,” coach Mike Reingruber said. “And he’s one of 16 guys to do it.
“That’s a great testament to his work ethic … how much time he puts into this game. And we know how much he cares about it. He’s been an absolute pleasure to coach since he’s been a Bulldog. And he’s gonna add to that (total), too. He’s gonna climb up that list.”
Interestingly, the milestone wasn’t top of mind for Mercer until the day he reached it.
“To be honest, it became a goal (Dec. 26),” the 6-3 guard said. “Because I had a poor start. So I tried to use that as momentum to help me get riled up more to get that. It became a goal in the second half.”
Reingruber saw early on that Mercer could wind up high on the program’s leaderboard.
“He came out with a bang his sophomore year,” Reingruber said. “He was great for us that year. And we just expected him to continue to climb and grow at that point. … Once he averaged about 13, 14 points a game as a sophomore, I fully expected that to happen with that trajectory.”
Mercer wasn’t thinking in those terms in those days, though.
“The beginning of my sophomore year when I was on varsity, I never even had a thought of getting a thousand points, to be honest,” he said. “I just played the game … I loved. (The 1,000-point mark) wasn’t really on my mind.
“But now I realize how big of an accomplishment it is.”
More than numbers, Mercer has been focused on working on his craft. That’s been tough at times as he deals with some nagging aches and pains.
“Sophomore year, he was pretty much a spot-up shooter,” Reingruber said. “Last year he started to add more elements to his game and he’s continued to add those additional elements. Getting to the rim, his midrange game is good … his midrange turnaround, midpost turnaround (have) really working for him as well.”
Meanwhile, Mercer is looking to find a college home.
Recruiting, he said, “is going well. It slowed down a little bit because of my injuries, but it’s starting to pick back up. It’s going well.”