Kummer Named SoCon's Top Assistant Coach
8/4/2020 11:24:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Kummer is set to begin his second season with the Bears in 2020-21
MACON, Ga. – Mercer men's basketball's Bobby Kummer has been named the top assistant coach in the Southern Conference in a ranking compiled by Stadium's Jeff Goodman.
Goodman facilitated the voting and polled 20 coaches in the SoCon, primarily assistants.
"Coach Kummer has the complete package," remarked head coach Greg Gary. "He recruits and scouts at a major-league level. He is extremely organized and thorough in every aspect of our program. He is a problem solver, and he does a great job of developing our guys on and off the court!"
Kummer came to Mercer as an assistant with Gary prior to the 2019-20 campaign and was instrumental in helping turn the program around in his first season. Mercer improved six wins from the previous season, collecting 17 victories including nine in the friendly confines of Hawkins Arena.
"He's done a great job of turning things [around] at Mercer," remarked an anonymous SoCon coach. "They run some great actions offensively that are really hard to guard. He can really coach."
Kummer, a native of Detroit, Mich., was a driving force behind Mercer's six-game winning streak from Jan. 15 – Feb. 1 which garnered the squad National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division I Team of the Week honors on Feb. 4.
Kummer has developed a reputation as a strong recruiter during his time in the collegiate basketball ranks and most recently helped Kamar Robertson earn Southern Conference All-Freshman Team honors at the end of the 2019-20 season.
Seniors Ethan Stair and Djordje Dimitrijevic also earned All-SoCon honors. Dimitrijevic earned additional accolades from the NABC as a Second Team All-District XXI selection and a College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Second Team Academic All-America.
Most recently, three players – Dimitrijevic, Victor Bafutto and Mitch Prendergast were named to the NABC's Honor Court for posting a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher for the 2019-20 academic year.
To date, Kummer has helped coach 20-plus all-conference selections, two conference players of the year, two conference defensive players of the year and two conference freshmen of the year. He has been instrumental in signing five top-20 recruiting classes throughout his stints with various programs. Nearly 40 of his former players have gone on to sign professional contracts.
Mercer is Kummer's sixth stop in the collegiate coaching ranks. He previously coached at Charlotte (1996-98), Texas A&M (1998-2004), made a second stop at Charlotte (2004-10), Appalachian State (2010-14) and Lamar (2014-19). He is slated to begin his second season with the Bears in 2020-21.
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