ETSU’s Taylor named SoCon Player of the Week

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – ETSU guard Brian Taylor II has been named the Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week presented by Ingles for all contests from Feb. 16-22. The award is selected by the league office.

Taylor II, who also won the honor on Dec. 1, led ETSU to a pair of road conference wins last week. On Feb. 18, the senior had a team-high 17 points, eight rebounds, two assists and a block in a 78-69 win over Furman. Three days, later, the native of St. Louis, Missouri, scored 25 points on 10-for-12 shooting, including going 6-for-6 in the second half, as the Buccaneers defeated UNCG, 87-75. Taylor II scored 10 straight points in the final minutes of the contest, pushing the Bucs’ lead to 13 points and helping seal ETSU’s first outright regular season crown since the 2019-20 season.

For the week, Taylor II averaged 21.0 points and 5.0 rebounds, while shooting 55.6 percent from the field. Taylor II played 76 minutes over the two games and committed just one turnover.

ETSU (21-8, 13-3 SoCon) hosts Wofford on Feb. 25, before concluding the regular season at Mercer on Feb. 28.

Other nominees: Braxton Williams (The Citadel), Baraka Okojie (Mercer), Justin Neely (UNCG), Jordan Frison (Chattanooga), Cord Stansberry (Western Carolina), and Kahmare Holmes (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

Feb. 16             Dylan Faulkner, Jr., F, Samford

Feb. 23             Brian Taylor II, Sr., G, ETSU