Men's Basketball
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- kisonas_e@mercer.edu
- Phone:
- (478) 301-5211
Under the direction of Head Coach Bob Hoffman, the Mercer men’s basketball program has achieved a level of unprecedented success in the school’s history. As
Coach Hoffman begins his 11th season with the Bears, that success and standard of excellence is only expected to continue.
During the 2017-18 season, Coach Hoffman achieved yet another milestone in his illustrious career, winning his 500th game at the men’s collegiate level. Coach Hoffman enters the 2018-19 campaign just two wins shy of 200 victories at Mercer, and his 198 wins as the Bears’ head coach ranks second all-time in the history of the program. Those 198 victories over the past 10 seasons make the Bears the winningest men’s basketball program in the state of Georgia over the past decade.
A two-time Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year, Coach Hoffman has directed Mercer to six postseason tournament berths, 19 postseason tournament victories and 10 power conference wins. Twice the Bears have won a school-record 27 games (2011-12 and 2013-14) under his leadership.
Coach Hoffman led the Bears to a 19-15 record and College Basketball Invitational (CBI) berth a year ago, marking the sixth postseason tournament appearance for the Bears during his tenure. Mercer finished the season winning nine of its last 11 games, including an eight-game winning streak that positioned the Bears for postseason consideration. Despite leading scorer and All-Southern Conference nominee Ria’n Holland being sidelined for 13 games during the season with a hand injury, Coach Hoffman guided the squad to a strong finish that saw the Bears post an 11-7 conference ledger and No. 4 seed in the conference tournament.
The 2017-18 edition of the Bears also featured a trio of 1,000-point career scorers, as senior starters Stephon Jelks, Jordan Strawberry and Demetre Rivers all joined the school’s 1,000-point club last season. Additionally, both Strawberry and Jelks earned second-team All-SoCon honors. Senior post man Desmond Ringer was recognized for his off the court achievements, as he was named to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District Team and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Give Back Team, a prestigious group of 10 men’s college basketball players that is recognized for their outstanding community service efforts.
Under Coach Hoffman’s tutelage, the Mercer program has exhibited solid performances both on and off the floor. This past season, the Bears graduated eight of its student-athletes off of the 2017-18 squad, which very well may have been the largest graduating class in NCAA Division I.
The Bob Hoffman era of Mercer basketball officially began on March 27, 2008, thus beginning the most successful period in program history.
The 2013 and 2014 Atlantic Sun Coach of the year has amassed an impressive 198-145 record in 10 seasons with Mercer. Three seasons prior, Coach Hoffman became the first coach in NCAA history to record a win in all four postseason tournaments (NCAA, NIT, CBI, CIT) in a four-year span following a 72-70 win over Stony Brook in the 2015 CBI opening round.
Coach Hoffman guided Mercer to its most memorable run during the 2013-14 season, leading the Bears back to the promised land of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 29 seasons.  Not satisfied with simply appearing in the Big Dance, Coach Hoffman guided his senior-laden squad to an upset of the USA Today/AP poll’s No. 6 ranked Duke Blue Devils in the Midwest Region’s 14-3 matchup - leaving the Bears just 40 minutes short of a Sweet 16 appearance.
Mercer’s win over Duke underscored Coach Hoffman’s penchant for big game victories.  Since arriving in Macon, Hoffman has led the Bears to 10 high-major wins against the likes of Alabama (twice), Auburn, Duke, Florida State, Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia Tech, Ole Miss and Seton Hall.
Mercer’s first tournament victory in program history vaulted the Bears into the national spotlight, gaining unprecedented media exposure for the university. Coach Hoffman’s triumph was the team’s 27th win of the season – equaling his own school record for single-season wins set by the 2011-12 edition of the squad. In addition to earning the league’s Coach of the Year honor for the second-straight season, Coach Hoffman took home the Fellowship of Christian Athlete’s John Lotz “Barnabas” Award and the Atlanta Tipoff club’s Georgia Coach of the Year distinction in 2014.
His efforts have helped raise banners for the 2012 CollegeInsider.com Tournament Championship, 2013 Atlantic Sun Regular Season Championship, 2013 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) Round of 16, 2014 Atlantic Sun Regular Season Co-Championship, 2014 Atlantic Sun Tournament Championship and 2014 NCAA Tournament Round of 32.
In the 2012-13 season, Coach Hoffman’s Bears captured the team’s first outright conference regular season championship and made the program’s first appearance in the NIT.
No stranger to the big stage, Coach Hoffman lifted the Bears to a 75-67 NIT win at Tennessee, marking the team’s 24th victory of the year and his 499th as a collegiate head coach. When the season concluded five days later, Coach Hoffman had closed the books on the school’s first back-to-back 20-win seasons in over 100 years of basketball.
The  2011-12 season saw Mercer smash a bevy of longstanding school records, including most wins in a season (27) and points scored (2,589) in the midst of an unprecedented postseason run.  When the dust cleared, Coach Hoffman’s squad stood alone as winners of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament, with possession of the first postseason tournament trophy in the history of the Atlantic Sun Conference.
A native of Oklahoma City, Okla., Coach Hoffman has been successful at all levels, boasting a proven track record from high school through the professional ranks. His overall record as a head coach at the collegiate level is 598-315.
The 2010-11 Bears reached the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament for a third-consecutive year and produced many memorable moments along the way. The team went 15-18 overall and 11-9 in A-Sun play, earning the No. 5 seed in the league playoff despite losing two key seniors mid-season. Mercer advanced to the semifinals before being knocked out by eventual champion Belmont in a nail biter. Senior Brian Mills was named first team All-A-Sun, while point guard Langston Hall was named to the All-Freshman squad.
Coach Hoffman’s 2009-10 team advanced to the title game of the Atlantic Sun Conference championships after downing Belmont and Jacksonville in the quarter and semifinal rounds. That year, Mercer garnered two All-A-Sun and two All-Region honors, while also having senior Daniel Emerson honored as the state of Georgia men’s college basketball “Player of the Year” by the Atlanta Tipoff Club. Additionally, senior James Florence became the Bears’ all-time leading scorer midway through the season. The team finished 16-17 overall and was 10-10 in the A-Sun.
Coach Hoffman guided the 2008-09 Bears to a 17-15 overall record and 11-9 in Atlantic Sun Conference (A-Sun) play. It was the Bears’ most wins since the 2002-03 season and their first winning mark in conference play since 2004-05.
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Coach Hoffman came to the Bears after serving as head coach of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, an NBA Developmental League franchise, and guided the American Basketball Association’s Arkansas Aeros to a 25-2 record in 2006-07. The Aeros led the league in scoring, averaging 133 points per game in Hoffman’s up-tempo style of basketball.
Prior to coaching the Aeros, Coach Hoffman served for two years as an assistant coach at the University of Oklahoma, where the Sooners recruited a class ranked in the top five nationally. Hoffman helped guide the Sooners to the first Big 12 championship in school history en route to a two-year record of 45-17 and back-to-back NCAA appearances in 2004-05 and 2005-06.
He brings a wealth of additional experience to the position, having served as head coach at the University of Texas Pan American from 1999-2004, compiling a 69-76 record at the NCAA Division I school. The highlight of Hoffman’s stint with the Broncs was a 21-9 record during the 2001-02 season.
Coach Hoffman guided UTPA to 12 wins in his first season, which was more than the previous three seasons combined, and posted the school’s best record since the 1993-94 campaign. In 2001-2002, Texas Pan-Am had its first winning season since 1993-94, earned their first tournament victory since 1989-90, and recorded the most home wins in eight seasons. The Broncs were rated for the first time ever in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major poll and Hoffman earned National Independent Coach of the Year honors by CollegeInsider.com.
Challenges are nothing new to him as he turned programs around at Southern Nazarene and Oklahoma Baptist.  As the head women’s basketball coach at Southern Nazarene, Coach Hoffman took a team that had never posted a winning season and won the 1989 NAIA National Championship in just his second season with the team. In three seasons at the helm of the Crimson Storm, he compiled an 88-16 record and was named Sooner Athletic Conference, District 9 and NAIA Coach of the Year.Â
Building on his success at Southern Nazarene, Coach Hoffman took the reins of the men’s program at his alma mater, Oklahoma Baptist, in 1990 and three seasons later guided the Bison to a 34-4 record and berth in the NAIA national championship game. Hoffman was named National Coach of the Year by Basketball Times and also earned Sooner Athletic Conference and District 9 Coach of the Year honors for his efforts. He went on to a record of 243-78 and a winning percentage of .757 in nine seasons at OBU, earning six trips to the NAIA Tournament and making two trips to the championship contest.
He coached 10 All-Americans and 21 All-Conference selections during his tenure with the Bison. Coach Hoffman was named Sooner Athletic Conference Coach of the Year four times. During his nine years at OBU, his teams averaged more than 90 points per game and led the NAIA in field goal percentage seven times. His commitment to academics is just as strong, boasting a player graduation rate of 82 percent.
A standout guard and forward and a 1979 graduate of Oklahoma Baptist, Hoffman is one of just 30 players to score at least 1,000 points in his OBU career.
Hoffman has been married for 37 years to the former Kelli Lumry. The couple has one son, Grant.
