BEHIND THE BENCH Connor Merrill VARSITY BASKETBALL

For Coach Merrill, sometimes the best moments happen off the court: Getting a text from another coach saying how well the team is playing together, hearing what others have to say about how well his players conduct themselves within the Deerfield community, or seeing the team rally together in the locker room to overcome a painful loss without a defeated spirit but with a plan for improvement. As a coach, Connor aims to instill a culture of personal responsibility among the players. “My hope is that I empower them. I think I’m demanding without being demeaning in any way. I demand maximum effort and unselfishness and just a commitment to winning. I think when I see kids constantly striving for their own personal ceilings and trying to be the best versions of themselves, and they’re doing those things that they can control, I’ll give them a long leash and let them learn on their own.” The players know that Coach Merrill is completely invested. “[Coach Merrill] would do anything for the betterment of our team. This is seen through [his] countless hours spent creating scouting reports, staying before and after practice to walk out new plays, or keeping us accountable,” says Thomas Lu ’23. As a high school student, Coach Merrill found his post-graduate year to be transformative. His coach was “a confrontational motivator” and the two did not see eye to eye. Connor had two choices: He could be robbed of any valuable lessons by taking issue with the coach’s style and becoming unreceptive to any instruction, or he could set that aside and focus on the message, gleaning what he needed in order to improve. That year was pivotal for Connor, and that coach became one of the most impactful people in his life. “This probably sounds like a cliché, but I think a lot of people who get into coaching get into it to work with kids and for the love of the sport, but I also think that a coach at some point had a vast impact on them, and they would like to replicate that as best as they can. That, at least, is true for me. Knowing the impact that coach had on me, and how much he helped me change and get to where I was trying to go—that’s what this is all about. I want to do that for other kids.” //