There’s a lot of hoops history in Fairfield, home of tradition-steeped Lawrence High School. Later this year, another basketball show is coming to town.

Kennebec Valley Community College, which has 2,400 students, is adding men’s and women’s basketball programs that will begin play this November and compete in Division II of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association.

“It’s something that’s great for the community and that we’re really excited about,” said Rusty Mercier, coach of the women’s team. “Having been (a teacher) for 32 years and seen a lot of kids graduate and go right into the work force, you’re always looking to give those athletes a way to continue, and this is an opportunity to do that.”

KVCC will compete independently this fall before joining the Yankee Small College Conference in 2026-27. That will put the Lynx in the same league as Central Maine Community College, Southern Maine Community College, York County Community College and the University of Maine at Augusta.

In Mercier, the KVCC women have a coach who’s familiar in Fairfield. He’s been an assistant for the Lawrence High girls team since 2014, and was a member of the 2014-15 and 2022-23 Class A title-winning staffs. He was also the school’s head baseball coach from 2011-23 before taking an assistant job at Thomas College.

“I’ve been helping (at Lawrence) for a while now, and I just felt like we needed to do something from the ground up,” said Mercier, who will continue his jobs at Lawrence and Thomas while coaching at KVCC. “We’re going to give it a few years, and hopefully by then, we’re a competitive team.”

The KVCC women were originally supposed to begin play in 2026-27 before deciding to have their inaugural season a year earlier. That means, rather than using recruits or transfers, the team will use open tryouts to build a team of players already enrolled at the school.

The men’s team will be coached by Matt Kenna, previously an assistant at Washington County Community College. As a former player at Vermont Tech University at Randolph (now Vermont State University), he’s familiar with the Yankee Small College Conference.

Kenna’s 2025-26 roster includes a pair of former Lawrence players: 2025 graduate Zeb Hannah and 2024 grad Dane Zawistowski. The Lynx are also bringing in transfers from WCCC and Vermont State, as well as nine players from Kenna’s home state of Florida, and even one from Alaska.

“I think we’ve got a good mix of everything it takes to win; we’ve got some good shooting and some good size,” Kenna said. “I’m excited for the community to see what we put on the floor. I think we’re going to have a super strong product on the floor, but also a really good group of guys off of it.” 

In preparation for the foray into college hoops, KVCC has renovated its Alfond Recreation Center gymnasium to comply with USCAA regulations. The school’s gym was previously used for student recreation as well as occasional high school basketball games.

The move is part of an expansion effort at KVCC that began ahead of the 2023-24 school year. The school started its athletic program that year with cross country, golf and track and field, and is also providing students with lodging options for the first time this coming semester.