Merkerson joins the Osprey staff as the associate head coach after serving as an assistant coach at Samford over the past four seasons. She returns to North Florida after playing with the Ospreys under Mary Tappmeyer from 2010-14.
During her time at Samford, she helped the team to regular season titles in 2020 and 2021, as well as a tournament title in 2020 and a WNIT appearance in 2021. She also coached a team that led the SoCon in offense and defense during the 2020 season and was undefeated at home against conference opponents in 2021 with an 11-2 overall SoCon record.
Over the four years, she has helped coach three First Team All-SoCon selections, three Second Team All-SoCon selections and three SoCon All-Freshman selections. She assisted in mentoring a two-time SoCon Player of the Year as well.
In 2022, she was selected as a WBCA Thirty Under 30 honoree, which recognizes 30 of the up-and-coming women's basketball coaches age 30 and under in the sport at all levels of the game. She was also given Assistant Coach of the Year that same season by the Samford Athletic Department.
Before her stint at Samford, she was holding the same position at Valdosta State from 2017-2019. She coached five total All-GSC selections, including three that made first team, and a Division II All-American.
Her two years at Valdosta State resulted in a NCAA D-II Sweet Sixteen appearance in 2018, followed by runner-ups of the Gulf South Conference Tournament in 2019.
The first assistant coaching position for Merkerson was at Truett McConnell for one season, in which she helped the program set new school records for most overall wins (15), most conference wins (11) and longest home winning streak (6).
Her first stint as a coach came as a graduate assistant at Lincoln Memorial from 2014-16, where she earned her Master's in Business Administration at the university.
As a player, Merkerson played for North Florida all four seasons from 2010-14, where she competed in 84 total games throughout her career, including 46 starts over her final two seasons. She graduated from UNF with her Bachelor's of Science in Sport Management.
