Kameron Mercer is projecting as a national top-five prospect in the 2028 class. The Cincinnati native had a strong freshman year at Huntington (W.Va.) Expressions Prep.
The spring travel basketball season has arrived, and Kameron Mercer can’t get enough of it. The 6-5, 200-pound Mercer is considered a top-10 prospect in the 2028 class. He is a native of Cincinnati, although he is wrapping up his freshman year at Huntington (W.Va.) Expressions Prep.
He is playing this spring with the All-Ohio Red program, which is allowing him to play up one level with its 16-U team and even catch a few minutes with the 17-U. On Friday night, he played on one court with the 16-U team and then went and played in the next game with the 17-U team on an adjacent court.
Mercer transferred to Huntington Prep so he could play against better competition game in and game out than he would have seen at his hometown school, Winton Woods. He also played against older players. And, one more reason to go to the prep school is it allowed him to participate in an endorsement deal.
In February, Mercer and his parents signed an agreement that includes a potential long-term equity deal with Pahhni, a Hamilton, Ohio-based alkaline water bottling company. As a top national basketball prospect, Mercer has more than 53,000 Instagram followers. He is represented by EZ Sports Group, an NIL sports agency.
“I am just blessed to be in a position like this and just to be where I’m at I couldn’t thank God and my family enough,” Mercer told Cincinnati’s WCPO-TV. “I’m going to do social media posts and content for Pahhni water to help promote the brand.”
“I really want to transition to like a true point guard,” Mercer told ZagsBlog during an event this past winter. “I know if I become a true point guard my stock is going to boost.”
“What I love about Kam is he’s a competitor,” Huntington Prep coach Arkell Bruce told ZagsBlog. “He impacts the game in many different ways, stuffs the stat sheet and plays for the right reasons and the right way. He has a beautiful future with the game.”
Part of that future could be with USA Basketball. He attended the Junior National Team camp at the NCAA Final Four earlier this month in San Antonio. A 16-U team will be formed to play in an international event within this hemisphere later this summer.
Mercer is the younger brother of Winton Woods 2027 star defensive end/edge rusher Jaylen Mercer, who is among Ohio’s top prospects in the current sophomore class. Jaylen Mercer has 20 offers, including Cincinnati, Indiana, Louisville, Kentucky, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State and Tennessee. Ohio State has also been recruiting him.
Below, we have an interview from this weekend with Kam Mercer as well as photos of him in action and Twitter/X posts with video clips.
MORE FROM KAMERON MERCER
Q: How did that experience work out for you going to Huntington? That had to be a great experience to play high school games against guys who are two and three years older than you?
Mercer: “Yeah, it was actually a blessing. It was very, very good for me, honestly. I got to play the point guard position the whole year. So my team was pretty big, I had a 7-2 big man, a 6-10 big man, and a 6-11 big man. So I had another 6-5 guard and a 6-9 wing, so therefore I had to play the point guard, which was great for me. That’s what I need to play as the years go on. That’s what I really need to be transitioning to in college.
“I think this year, playing a one, playing against people that I played against, I had to face against five-star guards like (top-10 2025 prospect) Mikel Brown, who’s committed to Louisville. He is a very good player. I faced A.J. Dybantsa, the number one player in the whole country right now (going to BYU).
“So the level of play, you can’t knock it. It was really good. So yeah, if I could do it all over again, I would, honestly. I loved this year, and the people that I got to play against. And even the people that weren’t as good, but they were 19 years old, it still helped me. They’re so much stronger and bigger. So I would say this year, man, I really enjoyed this year. It was really fun.”
Q: How do you feel you’ve improved as a player over the last year?
Mercer: “I’ve been tweaking my jumper. This game right here (Friday night), I think I went 4 of 7 or 5 of 7 on threes. I only missed one or two. I’ve been working on that. I hit the weight room a lot with Huntington Prep, so my body’s transitioned. I would say my shooting and my body are probably two biggest things.
“Now I need to work on being more explosive with my bottom. So that’s what I’m working on now.”
Q: How was it to be away from home? Did you have any family with you there, or how did that go? Did you get home sick at all, or what?
Mercer: “Nah, so my dad (Craig), he moved with me. He stayed in an apartment near campus, right by the school, so I was with my dad the whole time. I missed my brothers and my mom a lot. But with Huntington Prep not being too far from my home, maybe 2-1/2 hours, I was able to go back.
“I supported my brother in his football games. And then my mom visited me maybe four or five times. So I got to see her a lot during the year. And I only go to school Monday through Thursday. So therefore, let’s say I don’t have practice on Friday, I can go home that Thursday and then come back on Friday. So yeah, I was able to spend a lot of weekends with my family. So therefore, I never was homesick. It wasn’t very far.
Q: You went to the Final Four with USA Basketball? What was that experience like, to be with the best of the best?
Mercer: Man, that Florida-Auburn game was good to watch. Just watching Walter Clayton Jr. and Tahaad Pettiford go back and forth. And just that high level in general, it doesn’t get much better than that. I watch more college basketball than NBA, way more college basketball. I think the defense is a lot better. They play so hard. So therefore, it was so entertaining. I couldn’t get my eyes off the game.
“We were so high up, it was hot. So when the Duke-Houston game started, I kind of was walking around. I poked my head back in there, but we ended up leaving at halftime.
“That was a competition for USA Basketball. It was all the top players throughout the country. So therefore, even my grade, everybody’s just so good. Everything’s so leveled out. So therefore, to make the team or to be very good, it’s the small things that pop out to the USA coaches, like being vocal and being just a leader and stuff like that. Everybody’s skill set and skill level is so good.
“Everybody is 6-5, really, unless you’re just a small guard. Everybody’s just so good. So the USA events have been a blessing for me. I hope to get invited to the next one. The next one is the final tryout, and that’ll be May 22nd to June 8th. It’s like a two-week thing. And they’ll determine after that who’s on the team.”
Q: How about colleges? Has Ohio State kept in touch? What have they been saying, I guess?
Mercer: “So it’s hard. A lot of colleges can’t speak to me. Yeah, you’ve got go through my parents. Yeah, I can call them personally, but they can’t call me. I spoke to Coach Deibler, the head coach. I’ve talked to (Cincinnati) coach Wes Miller a lot. So those are the two I keep in touch with.
“I don’t know, I’m ready for the circuit to start, to get more offers. But as far as now, I got Missouri, UC, Xavier, and Ohio State. Okay. Well, I know that the Xavier coach (Sean Miller) left to go to Texas. I guess I couldn’t say I have that one no more. But I’m pretty sure I’ll have Texas real soon.”
Q: How about playing with the All-Ohio teams?
Mercer: “Yeah, so we just need to add a couple more pieces and play together a little more. There aren’t that many egos on our team. But other than that, when we play together and we put everything to the side, we’re actually a really good team. And I think that we have a chance to go out there and turn some heads.”
This article was originally posted by 247sports.com by Steve Helwagen:
https://247sports.com/college/ohio-state/longformarticle/cincinnati-native-kameron-mercer-stands-out-ohio-state-buckeyes-cincinnati-bearcats-249062412
