UNCG’s Neely named SoCon Player of the Week

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – UNCG forward Justin Neely has been named the Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week presented by Ingles for all contests from Feb. 2-8. The award is selected by the league office.

Neely, who also won the honor on Nov. 24, led the Spartans to a pair of conference wins. The graduate student finished with 25 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and a steal as UNCG defeated Western Carolina, 81-78, on Feb. 4. Neely made five free throws in the final three seconds of the contest, moving the Spartans from down by two to a three-point victory during a game where he shot 19-for-21 from the charity stripe. On Feb. 8, the native of Miami Beach, Florida, logged 24 points, 13 rebounds, three steals, one assist and one block in a 67-64 win at Furman. Neely is currently second in the country in rebounds per game (11.8).

For the week, Neely averaged 24.5 points, 12.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.0 steals. Neely’s performance last week led to him becoming the first player in the conference to be win SoCon Player of the Week multiple times this season. Neely was also named the Lou Henson Award National Player of the Week on Monday.

UNCG (10-15, 6-6 SoCon) welcomes VMI on Feb. 11, and Wofford on Valentine’s Day.

Other nominees: Carter Kingsbury (The Citadel), Blake Barkley (ETSU), Jadin Booth (Samford), and Nils Machowski (Wofford)

 
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

Jan. 19             Armani Mighty, R-Jr., C, Mercer

Jan. 26             Kahmare Holmes, So., G, Wofford

Feb. 2               Alex Wilkins, Fr., G, Furman

Feb. 9               Justin Neely, Gr., F, UNCG