Merrill's Paul Jesperson Will Play in NCAA Tournament Today

Although both the Merrill boys and girls basketball teams have seen their seasons come to an end, there is a Merrill alumni who will be taking the court with his team later today.

Merrill native Paul Jesperson is a freshman guard on the University of Virginia basketball team. His Cavaliers are a No. 10 seed in the West Region of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament and will play their first game at 1:10 today.

Jesperson started the year as a red shirt, but 11 games into the season he was called into action.
 
Merrill boys basketball coach Kurt Soderberg had the pleasure of coaching Jesperson all four years of his high school career. A career that saw Paul start every game possible on his way to becoming Merrill’s all-time leading scorer with 1,696 points. Soderberg said he was able to watch just about all of Paul's games this season and will often call or text to continue to coach and offer encouragement.

With the Cavaliers Jesperson has been averaging just over 10 minutes per game with 1.4 points per game and just shy of one rebound per game. Soderberg said he’s looking forward to seeing Paul take his game to a national audience and that in many respects Paul is living his dream.
 
The Jesperson family is very excited for Paul. In fact, the entire family will be courtside in Omaha watching Paul this afternoon. The University of Virginia and Florida square off at 1:10 this afternoon from Omaha, Nebraska. The game will be televised on TNT.

Click HERE for our Coaches Corner interview with Kurt Soderberg.