Will Merrell C'15 enters his second season as head coach for Sewanee men's basketball in 2026-27 and begins his fifth year at his alma mater. He was named the 25th head coach of the men's basketball team at the University of the South on July 15, 2025.
In his first season as head coach the Tigers posted a 10-16 overall record, 6-8 in conference play, a campaign that featured only one returning starter and major contributions from seven players who were either freshmen or had played a handful of minutes in their careers. After an 0-6 start, Sewanee reeled off five victories in their next six outings and 8-of-10 to reach .500 in mid-January. The team struggled over the final month in the heart of conference play but tied for third in the league standings.
Junior Fletcher Bigham earned SAA Player of the Year honors while Nikolas Avaliani was voted Rookie of the Year and Reid Carrier received Honorable Mention All-League accolades. Bigham and Avaliani were named All-Region by D3hoops.com and Bigham was selected All-District by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC).
Sewanee posted an 18-9 overall record in 2024-25, including 9-3 for second place in the SAA, but the squad got off to a slow start, dropping four of its first six games of the season, all by nine points or less. The Tigers posted a 12-4 mark after the New Year, falling in the semifinals of the conference tournament.
Five players garnered All-Conference honors, including Russ Marr and Luka Avaliani on the First Team, and 10 athletes were named to the SAA Academic Honor Roll.
Sewanee won the SAA Tournament championship in 2022-23, reaching the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019. Losing just one player from the previous season, the 2023 club improved from six to 19 wins with the conference tournament title.
Four players earned All-SAA honors while Marr was voted All-Region. In the classroom, a record 12 student-athletes were recognized on the SAA Academic Honor Roll.
The Tigers got off to a slow start in 2023-24 due to injuries and a roster that included five freshmen and just one senior. Sewanee posted a 5-8 mark before the New Year and started 0-4 in league play before winning seven of its last 10 SAA contests. The squad lost to Berry in the semifinals of the conference tournament, finishing the year 12-15 overall, 9-7 in games decided by nine points or less.
Marr, Avaliani and Tre Corrigan were voted to the All-Conference team and 10 players garnered SAA Academic Honor Roll accolades.
No stranger to Sewanee, Merrell served as the strength and conditioning coach for the men's lacrosse team that won the 2022 SAA Tournament championship and posted its first-ever NCAA Tournament win.
Prior to returning to Sewanee, he worked as an assistant coach at Queens University of Charlotte (N.C.) for the 2017-18 season. The Royals posted a 32-4 overall record, setting a single-season school record for wins and advancing to the NCAA Division II Final Four. His responsibilities included scouting, recruiting prospective student-athletes and all team travel operations.
He served as a coach for ProSkills Select AAU, Queen's Grant High School and the Cannon School prior to his start in collegiate coaching.
During his playing career at Sewanee, he was a member of the men's basketball and track and field teams and was a member of the Order of the Gown. Merrell graduated Cum Laude from the University of the South in 2015 with a bachelor’s in Political Science with a concentration in International Security and a minor in History.
Updated 6/18/26
