"Toughness" Isn't Just A Slogan For Jarred Merrill & Coker Basketball
"Toughness" Isn't Just A Slogan For Jarred Merrill & Coker Basketball
In 2019, Coker basketball coach Jarred Merrill suffered a life-threatening stroke. In 2023, he leads the Cobras to their first SAC Tournament since '18.
"Team. Together. Toughness."
That's the motto for the 2022-23 Coker men's basketball team, qualifier for this season's South Atlantic Conference Tournament. The Cobras' matchup with Lincoln Memorial marks the program's first opportunity in the SAC Championship since 2018, and its first time advancing to the postseason in the four-year tenure of head coach Jarred Merrill.
"We’re not happy with where we’re at right now, but it’s a huge step forward from where we’ve been," Merrill told FloHoops.com while the Cobras were en route to LMU.
The '22-'23 season is indeed a huge step for Coker basketball as a group, and for Merrill individually in his first March moment as a head coach. Leading a team into this juncture of the season is never guaranteed, but for Merrill, ever coaching again wasn't a guarantee as recently as three years ago.
On Dec. 8, 2019, Merrill suffered a stroke in the locker room before Coker's matchup with College of Charleston. A result of a deformed vein, Merrill said in a spring 2020 interview with Myrtle Beach's WBTW that he showed no warning signs prior to the life-threatening episode.
Per the Mayo Clinic, this is known as arteriovenous malformation (AVM) and is "a tangle of blood vessels that irregularly connects arteries and veins, disrupting blood flow and oxygen circulation.
"When an AVM disrupts this critical process, the surrounding tissues might not get enough oxygen," the Mayo Clinic website reads. "Because the tangled blood vessels in an AVM do not form properly, they can weaken and rupture."
Furthermore, "experts don't understand why this happens," so without prior indicators, Merrill would have had no reason to anticipate the December 2019 episode. Upon losing feeling in his left side, however, the fast action of Coker assistants and medical staff directed the coach to MUSC Health Center in Charleston.
Merrill spent the subsequent four months undergoing treatment and rehab, a period of "a lot of pain...[and] intensive therapy" he said.
But don't confuse that description with complaining. On the contrary, the father of three and coach to many more described his road back to the Cobras sidelines as "a positive.
"It’s a blessing," he said. "God giving me this opportunity to just have life.
"It's kinda made me strong," he added. "Going through that stroke has made me, I think, a little bit tougher, and I've gotten closer to my kids. I kinda understandthe role I have with them and appreciate it a little more than I did before; not taking it for granted. I appreciate the moments way more than I did before."
Merrill also said he has put an emphasis on the program's community outreach. It's a community of fans, alumni and well-wishers who raised more than $25,000 just days after he suffered the stroke. Quite the embodiment of the Coker basketball mantra's part about togetherness.
And as far as the toughness, the Cobras need look no further than their own locker room for an example. It doesn't get much tougher than battling back from the life-altering effects of a stroke as Merrill has.
Then there's team. Merrill referred to the '22-'23 Cobras as the closest-knit group he's had, an assertion supported with Coker's run to the SAC Tournament.
"We talked about doing something special all year," Merrill said. "With the young kids, getting them to believe in what we’re doing is huge for us going forward. It’s the belief factor."
Coker's corps is young, with half of the six leading scorers for much of the season being freshmen. There isn't a senior among the group, and the offensive engine driving the Cobras after 16-point per game scorer Demar Anderson went down 10 games in, Jordan Jones, was a role player just a year ago.
Jones leads Coker with 14.5 points and 6.6 assists per game, both more than double his output a season ago primarily coming off the bench.
"Unbelievable," Merrill said of Jones' progress. "He’s really been a catalyst, not only in the games but really in practice. He’s our voice. He’s been a true leader. He didn’t even play last year; he was a bench player and being thrust into a leadership role this year, he’s really learned on the fly."
A junior, Jones has eligibility remaining to rejoin the Cobras next season with current first-year contributors Mahmoud Bangura, Marvin Brumfield and Jamie Muldowney each a season more experienced.
"We’re starting the program basically from scratch with a bunch of new kids," Merrill said of this season's team. "[Advancing to the postseason] is a huge stepping stone for us next year — and the rest of this season."
That's an important caveat, the rest of this season. While Coker's youth could make the Cobras contenders in the SAC next season, there's still plenty to look forward to in 2023.
After all, this is March, and Merrill sums up the prevailing reality of this time of year in basketball nicely: "Who knows what can happen. Win the game Wednesday, keep winning and who knows?"
No one knows for certain what lies ahead, in postseason basketball or in life. And Jarred Merrill is grateful for the opportunities to continue discovering those uncertainties.