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In this practice, Merthie looked like the player originally recruited by Jones at Florida before coming to Marshall and sitting out the 2005-06 season for academic reasons. "A lot of hard work this summer paid off," said Merthie, a native of Lake Mary, Florida. "Instead of going home for a vacation, I decided to stay here and work on my game." Merthie averaged over 30 points per game as a high school player in the Sunshine State. "It's all paying off. Back when I was in high school (Jones) recruited me, back when I was a scoring machine. When I came here, I had a little let down but coach told me this summer to work hard and everything would be alright. My shots are going to come, and I have to knock them down." Sitting out a full season is a very tough way for a freshman to spend his first year in college, and Merthie knows that also affected his play. "It's tough, it's real tough to sit out a year. College is a fast-paced game, and if you're not in shape and not on your game, it's going to be hard on you.