Basketball and Student Life: Get to know Mr. Merrill

Head Boys’ Varsity Basketball Coach and Student Life Coordinator Connor Merrill joined Deerfield just a few months ago at the start of the 2022-2023 school year. Born in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Mr. Merrill played high school basketball at Vermont Academy and later at Skidmore College. After graduating college in 2015, Mr. Merrill was the assistant boys’ basketball coach at Vermont Academy for three years. He continued his coaching career as assistant coach at Springfield College for two years and Middlebury College for four years.

In the past few months, Mr. Merrill said that the biggest thing that stood out to him about the school was its strong sense of community. “Kids just love being here for what Deerfield has to offer,” he said. “They rally around each other and they really support each other. It’s a very competitive environment…but not at the expense of anyone else.” Mr. Merrill also expressed feeling welcomed by teachers and staff and enjoys having conversations with students he hadn’t previously met.

Mr. Merrill credits his parents for showing him that good things come with persistence and hard work. Everyday, he tries to bring that mentality to best support and lead the athletes and students at Deerfield. Mr. Merrill’s traits of determination and diligence have allowed him to influence students to work harder, hustle, and perform to the best of their ability.

Although his time at Deerfield has just begun, Mr. Merrill already has made a significant impact on the basketball program. Chandler Dicks ’23, one of the team’s starters, said, “We have already reached a record of five wins, three losses, while in previous years, it took us twenty-something games to five wins.”

The team’s early winning record might have something to do with the vigorous training regiment Mr. Merrill instituted since becoming the head coach. Throughout their preseason, Mr. Merrill led open-gym practices and pushed players to improve day after day. Now that the season has officially started, players lift, train, and review videos of past games, maximizing preparation time on and off of the court.

In addition to increased training time, the team has also developed bigger goals, with players working as hard as they can under the leadership of Mr. Merrill and Assistant Coach Conrad Pitcher. Peter Shea ’23, a senior on the team, said, “If I have to run that extra bit longer and that extra bit harder so that we can squeak out one more win or two more wins on our records so that we can get better players to try to come in here… I’m more than happy to do that.”

Looking forward, one of Mr. Merrill’s many goals for Deerfield’s basketball program is to increase the program’s recognition as a respected interscholastic competitor. He said, “I’ve always seen the program as a sleeping giant.” By using recruiting connections that he has built over the years, combined with his impressive leadership skills, Mr. Merrill hopes to strengthen the team and attract student athletes on a national and global scale.