Nicole Auerbach

USA TODAY Sports

Editor's note: Due to the shooting death of Mercer basketball player Jibri Bryan on Tuesday night, the university has decided to postpone its Times Square and billboard announcements of its football recruiting class. "We will announce our signees in Times Square and on billboards throughout the Southeast at a later date," Mercer associate athletic director Daniel Tate said in an email to USA TODAY Sports.

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Mercer University is aware it is best known nationally for its upset against then-No. 3 seed Duke nearly two years ago in the NCAA tournament. It knows most people aren’t aware it has an FCS-level college football program, one it reinstated in 2013 after a hiatus that began in World War II.

So the Bears’ athletic department has worked hard to get the message out. Last year for college football’s National Signing Day, the school welcomed its new signees on digital billboards throughout the state of Georgia — a trend that larger schools like LSU are jumping on this year in their home states.

About a month ago, Mercer athletic director Jim Cole turned to associate athletic director Daniel Tate and his marketing team, assistant athletic director for digital media Lisa Cherry and sports information director Jordon Bruner and asked them a simple question: “You surprised me last year; what do you have this year?”

The answer was even more outside the box: Times Square.

Yes, the Macon, Ga., private school with an undergraduate enrollment of 4,570 is commandeering two giant video boards in the middle of New York City to celebrate its football signees on Wednesday.

“It’s kind of like when we beat Duke, everybody said: Who’s Mercer?” Cole told USA TODAY Sports. “We got a lot of press from that. There was some pressure after that to not lose that momentum.

“It’s, what can we do that separates us from everybody else?”

Said Tate: “Our goal this year was, let’s try something different that’s never been done before.”

The Times Square screens will not just highlight football, but also put the entire university on display.

“We’re realists,” Cole said. “We know we’re going to have a lot of people in Times Square look up and say, ‘Where’s Mercer?’ We’re going to tell you where are, what we’re about. Miss America this year is a Mercer student; we’ll have that up there. We’re going to tell you about our famous alumni. What we’re about academically. That’ll run, then our athletes.”

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Mercer also will again promote its signees on local billboards again. All of it is part of a push to maintain momentum. Tate said enrollment at the university has increased each year since Mercer’s upset of Duke.

“We’re growing,” Tate said. “From our President to everyone around here, we know athletics can generate interest in our university. It’s a great way to show we’re a great option for prospective students.”

Cole said he believes the expected benefits and exposure outweigh the cost of paying for video boards in Times Square.

“When we started football four years ago, the main reason was to increase the exposure of our university,” Cole said. “We’ve got a great university. Really, nobody knew about it because if you don’t compete at a high level in sports, you don’t get that name recognition to attract students to the school. Football’s done well for us.”

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