Hall of Fame
Bill Merna, a Utica, N.Y., native, played varsity basketball at Potsdam from 1966-1970 under coaches Dr. Lou LaGrand and Jerry Welsh. In his junior campaign, Merna was a co-captain and team MVP. As a senior, he again captained the Bears and won the Psi Phi Senior Award.
After graduating in 1970, Merna held teaching positions in Hermon-DeKalb, Hammond and Ogdensburg Free Academy.
Merna has established himself as one of the finest scholastic basketball coaches in Northern New York. As coach of the OFA Blue Devils, Merna has compiled an impressive 202-104 record and has been named Northern Athletic Conference Division I Coach of the Year five times.
He was the Section 10 boys basketball chairman from 1979-1985 and is a member of the executive committee of the New York State Basketball Coaches Organization. Merna has kept his ties with Potsdam basketball by lecturing at the Potsdam College Summer Basketball Camp for 15 years.
Potsdam College is proud to induct Bill Merna into its Athletic Hall of Fame.
