DC Trip Teaches Valuable Lessons for Men's Basketball Team

On Friday December 16th, the Mercer men’s team boarded a bus for its annual trip to the Washington DC area.  The first stop was the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.  The team toured the museum and for many of the players it was their first time learning about the events of the Holocaust. This tour was very informative and one of the players noted that the word ghetto was not native to America, as Jews in Europe were forced into ghettos in urban areas prior to deportation to the concentration or extermination camps. Coach Levy was impressed with this observation and the thoughtful discussions that took place amongst the players during the visit.

After a meaningful time at the museum, the team practiced at the MedStar Health Performance Center which is the practice facility for the Washington Wizards and Mystics.  Coach Levy’s good friend John Thompson, the former Princeton and Georgetown head men’s basketball coach and current Vice President for the Wizards, hosted the team.  Coach Levy noted how thrilled the team was to be in an NBA facility and a spirited practice ensued. 

From there, the team headed to dinner at Il Canale, a Georgetown restaurant, where a group of Coach Levy’s friends from his days living in Washington D.C. met the team and shared their life experiences.  Included in that group was Frank Williams, a graduate of Cherry Hill East High School, the school current MCCC player Deon Sanders attended.  Williams played for Coach Levy when he was a graduate assistant coach at George Washington University.  The players were grateful to hear their stories and make valuable connections.

The next day the team played Frederick Community College and lost a close game.  Even though the trip ended with a loss, Coach Levy hopes the team came away with many valuable lessons from the trip, which can help the players both in the second semester and in their lives.  It appears that the Vikings had a winning trip and experience overall.