TAHLEQUAH — Macon, Ga., and Mercer University will soon be the home of another Sequoyah High School basketball player.

Lindsey Hammer recently verbally committed to play college basketball for the Mercer Lady Bears. Hammer’s older sister, Lorin, a 2008 Sequoyah graduate and Gates Millennium Scholarship winner, already dons a Mercer uniform as a guard for the Mercer women’s basketball team.

Next year, her younger sister will follow in her footsteps.

“They (Mercer) have a really good medical program, I can play basketball and my sister goes there,” Lindsey Hammer said.

Hammer was a freshman member of the school’s third consecutive state championship team and went on to lead the team in three-point shots her sophomore year. For her junior year, she averaged 16.3 points per game, 8.1 rebounds, 4.7 steals and 2.6 assists. At the current pace, she is expected to score more than 1,500 points in her high school career.

“Lindsay is the most coachable player I have ever had,” said Bill Nobles, Sequoyah girls’ basketball coach. “Her work ethic is matched only by one other player I have coached, her sister Lorin.”

Hammer would like to become a surgeon after graduation. Officials at Mercer University have assured her that they will be providing her with a basketball scholarship, if she needs it. Hammer is hoping to earn enough academic scholarship dollars to be able to pay for her college, but is glad to have the basketball scholarship to fall back on.

She is currently ranked in number one spot in her graduating class with a 4.16 grade point average and is actively seeking academic scholarships.

“I’ve learned a lot, not just about basketball, but other things,” Hammer said. “You just have to give it your all and hope for the best.”

Hammer will sign her official letter of intent to play basketball at Mercer University at a special signing event and reception on Wednesday, Nov. 11 at 10 a.m. in the lower level of The Place Where They Play. Hammer is the fourth athlete from Sequoyah to receive an athletic scholarship to a NCAA Division 1 college.

Sequoyah opens its basketball season on Dec. 5 at Anadarko Riverside.