Mercer’s Okojie named SoCon Player of the Week

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