Written by Christopher Mercer Sports Editor 

Many changes have shaped and changed college basketball in the Gulf South Conference, but what hasn’t changed is who has been leading the charge for the VSU Blazers: Head Coach Mike Helfer.
Helfer has just completed his 20th season as the head coach of the Blazers, which included his most successful turnaround in school history.

The 2024-2025 season was a tremendous bounce-back for men’s basketball. After finishing last season 10th in the GSC at 12-16, the Blazers finished this season with a stellar 25-7 record, which placed them second in the GSC. Helfer career record at VSU is 386-198 second all time in Valdosta State mens’ basketball history.

They advanced to the GSC championship after wins against the Union University Bulldogs and the Montevallo Falcons in rounds one and two before falling to the Alabama Huntsville Chargers 101-95 in a tight game.

The Blazers secured a berth in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II National Championship tournament, where they fell in the first round to the Lynn University Fighting Knights 86-74.

In an interview with The Torch podcast and the Inferno Blazer Sports Show, Helfer discussed the changes that helped led the Blazers’ to a complete turnaround.
“We played and pressed like we did this year at Southern Poly and so I did there for eight years. You know, we average 26 wins a year. We had a good stretch; we came to Valdosta State, I wondered if you could play that way at this level because you had more ball handlers. Here is my philosophy: we are going to trade minutes for wins. I laid it out. I said, listen, we’re going to sub every three or four minutes.”

Several players on this team achieved different milestones this season. Senior forward Braxton Williams eclipsed the 1,700 career points mark and finished his time at VSU with 1,781 total points, averaging 14 points per game this season.

Meanwhile, forward Carlos Hart wowed Blazers fans night in and night out. He finished this season with his dominant scoring, averaging 19 points per game, and was named to the All-GSC team, All-District Second team, and GSC tournament team.

One of the season’s standout moments came in the second round of the GSC tournament against the Montevallo Falcons when Hart hit a game-winning pull-up jumper after winding down the clock to give the Blazers an 81-79 thrilling victory .

Helfer talked about how to manage the moment in the final stages of a close game.
“When you get to those situations, we had played on the road and been successful throughout the year, Tough environments you know, we were 11-1 in the conference on the road, which is incredible,” Helfer said. “I just try to tell our guys, you know, hey man, we’ve been here before. This is a hostile crowd, but we have played in front of hostile crowds before and had great success. And, you know, the way that that game kind of played out at the end, I mean, it was just, it was fun to coach.”

Although the Blazers’ season didn’t end as hoped, Helfer was proud of the season they had put together.

“I hope that we have laid down the foundation for something greater,” he said.
The full interview is available on the Inferno Blazers Sports Show on YouTube and streaming platforms.