SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Mercer guard Baraka Okojie has been named the Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week presented by Ingles for all contests from Jan. 5-11. The award is selected by the league office.
Okojie, who is on the Lou Henson Award Early Season Watch List, led Mercer to back-to-back 100-point offensive outings, including the 109 points versus Wofford marking the most points scored against a SoCon opponent in program history. He scored 14 points and dished out five assists in Mercer’s 101-63 win over The Citadel on Jan. 7. Three days later, the junior logged career highs in points and assists, finishing with 29 and 12, respectively, as Mercer defeated Wofford, 109-97. The native of Brampton, Ontario, Canada, also had three rebounds and a steal against the Terriers.
For the week, Okojie averaged 21.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.0 steal per game, while shooting 61.1 percent from the floor. Okojie has recorded a steal in each of the Bears’ last seven games.
Mercer (10-7, 2-2 SoCon) hits the road this week to take on VMI on Jan. 15, and UNCG on Jan. 17.
Other nominees: Blake Barkley (ETSU), Charles Johnston (Furman), Justin Neely (UNCG), and Jordan Frison (Chattanooga)
2025-26 SoCon Men’s Basketball Players of the Week
Nov. 10 TJ Johnson, Jr., F, VMI
Nov. 17 Keaton Norris, Sr., G, Samford
Nov. 24 Justin Neely, Gr., F, UNCG
Dec. 1 Brian Taylor II, Sr., G, ETSU
Dec. 8 Dylan Faulkner, Jr., F, Samford
Dec. 15 Linus Holmstrom, So., G, VMI
Dec. 22 Jordan Frison, Jr., G, Chattanooga
Dec. 29 Jayden Tyler, Fr., G, Wofford
Jan. 5 Nils Machowski, Jr., G, Wofford
Jan. 12 Baraka Okojie, Jr., G, Mercer