LaVon Mercer (לבן מרסר; born January 13, 1959) is an American-Israeli former basketball player. He played in the center position. As a high school senior, he averaged 37.6 points, 30.1 rebounds, and 12 blocked shots per game, and was named a Parade All American. Playing for the University of Georgia Bulldogs, he became the school's all-time career-leader in blocks and field-goal percentage, set its single-season shooting percentage record, and had the best SEC Tournament career field goal percentage of any SEC player. Drafted by the San Antonio Spurs in the 3rd round of the 1980 NBA Draft, he instead played 14 seasons in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, where he was the MVP in 1981. He obtained Israeli citizenship, and also played for the Israeli national basketball team. High school Mercer attended Metter High School ('76). His teammates nicknamed him "Tree." He grabbed a state record 41 rebounds in a game in 1975. In 1975–76 he averaged 37.6 points, 30.1 rebounds, and 12 blocked shots per game. In his senior year he was named the Georgia High School Player of the Year, and a Parade All American."Parade All-America", sports-reference.com. He was named the number 1 high school player in Georgia by The Atlanta Journal. There was a degree of local racial prejudice at the time. He said: "Townfolk called Coach West.... They asked him why he was starting five blacks on the basketball team. He told ‘em it was ‘cause we were the best players. When we won our first 12 straight, the calls stopped and the gym – it filled up." College In college, Mercer played for the University of Georgia Bulldogs in 1976 – 80. In 1977–78 he averaged 8.4 rebounds per game  . In 1978–79 he averaged 13.4 points and 7.7 rebounds per game with a .643 field goal percentage, and was named All-Southeastern Conference – 3rd Team. In 1979–80 he averaged 11.5 points and 7.8 rebounds per game with a .611 field goal percentage, playing alongside Dominique Wilkins, and was All-SEC – 3rd Team.
LaVon Mercer (לבן מרסר; born January 13, 1959) is an American-Israeli former basketball player. He played at the center position. As a high school senior, he averaged 37.6 points, 30.1 rebounds, and 12 blocked shots per game, and was named a Parade All American. Playing college basketball for the Georgia Bulldogs, he became the school's all-time career-leader in blocks and field-goal percentage, set its single-season shooting percentage record, and had the best SEC Tournament career field goal percentage of any SEC player. Drafted by the San Antonio Spurs in the 3rd round of the 1980 NBA Draft, he instead played 14 seasons in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, where he was the MVP in 1981. He obtained Israeli citizenship, and also played for the Israeli national basketball team. High school Mercer attended Metter High School ('76). His teammates nicknamed him "Tree." He grabbed a state record 41 rebounds in a game in 1975. In 1975–76 he averaged 37.6 points, 30.1 rebounds, and 12 blocked shots per game. In his senior year he was named the Georgia High School Player of the Year, and a Parade All American."Parade All-America", sports-reference.com. He was named the No. 1 high school player in Georgia by The Atlanta Journal. There was a degree of local racial prejudice at the time. He said: "Townfolk called Coach West.... They asked him why he was starting five blacks on the basketball team. He told ‘em it was ‘cause we were the best players. When we won our first 12 straight, the calls stopped and the gym – it filled up." College In college, Mercer played for the University of Georgia from 1976 to 80. In 1977–78 he averaged 8.4 rebounds per game for the Bulldogs . In 1978–79 he averaged 13.4 points and 7.7 rebounds per game with a .643 field goal percentage, and was named All-Southeastern Conference – 3rd Team. In 1979–80 he averaged 11.5 points and 7.8 rebounds per game with a .611 field goal percentage, playing alongside Dominique Wilkins, and was All-SEC – 3rd Team.
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