It seemed his career, at Georgia and USF, would be remembered for injuries and dismissals, and for the disappointment of missed opportunities. But coach Stan Heath kept Mercer on scholarship, hoping he would stick around and earn his degree, and after Mercer graduated in August 2009 and fulfilled the legal requirements of a pretrial intervention program to get a misdemeanor drug charge dropped, Heath took a chance by allowing Mercer back on the team for the 2009–10 season. Heath's decision paid dividends, as Mercer became a key part of the Bulls' emergence in 2009–10. In February 2010, Mercer expressed how grateful he was to be part of a team making a run at the NCAA Tournament: "Coming back has been a blessing. I'm grateful that Coach Heath and the coaching staff gave me another chance, and that's why I play my heart out every game. When you have a coach that's willing to go out on a limb for you, it makes you want to work that much harder for them."