HFC graduate Leon Ayers will play D1 basketball for Mercer

HFC alumnus Leon Ayers – who played basketball for the Hawks and was named to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCCA) Men’s Basketball Division II Second Team All-American – will play basketball for Mercer University in Macon, GA during the 2020-21 season. He is the fifth signee of the incoming class of recruits.

Originally, Ayers had committed to play basketball for the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay (UW-GB), a Division I school. However, UW-GB recently fired head basketball coach Linc Darner after five seasons. After hearing about Darner, Ayers and two other UW-GB recruits went into the transfer portal.

Mercer basketball coach Greg Gary then recruited Ayers, who recently earned his associate degree in general studies from HFC.

"Coach Gary and his staff went about things in a respectful, authentic way," Ayers said in an interview with MercerBears.com. "They were persistent in contacting me and answering all of my and my family's questions. It was a big deal for me that they did that. Mercer has a family atmosphere. It was important to me to have a relationship with the staff outside of basketball. I connected with the staff easily."

Ayers led the Hawks basketball team in scoring at 17 points per game and was second in rebounding at 5.1 per game. During the 2018-19 season, Ayers helped lead the Hawks to a 23-9 overall record and a Michigan Community College Athletic Association (MCCAA) state championship.

Congratulations, Leon! Your Hawks teammates and supporters continue to root for you, on and off the court.