Goodbye Baraka Okojie

[Pablo]

Holmes, Buchanan Add to Collection of A-10 Men’s Basketball Weekly Awards

WASHINGTON – The Atlantic 10 Conference has named Dayton junior DaRon Holmes II its Men's Basketball Player of the Week. George Washington redshirt freshman Darren Buchanan, Jr was chosen as the league’s Rookie of the Week. The awards were announced Monday and are for games played Jan. 15-21.

atlantic10.com

HONOR ROLL
"Mason freshman Baraka Okojie was a thief, with six steals in two games last week, while collecting 17 total points and six assists in the 1-1 week."

 

[undertherock]

Yeah I'm rewatching the game from earlier today. I haven't seen anyone play this fast, combined with finishing at the hoop, combined with drawing contact, since maybe John Wall in his prime. It's time for this kid to start.

 

[GMU79]

Yeah I'm rewatching the game from earlier today. I haven't seen anyone play this fast, combined with finishing at the hoop, combined with drawing contact, since maybe John Wall in his prime. It's time for this kid to start.

Yeah, I love Ronnie, but these slow Oldsmobile starts are going to cost us games that we need to win.

 

[GMUgemini]

Yeah, I love Ronnie, but these slow Oldsmobile starts are going to cost us games that we need to win.

I’m watching the game now and the slow start isn’t all on Ronnie. The team missed some pretty open shots and didn’t do a great job getting back on defense and let in a lot of trailing 3s.

 

[GMU79]

I’m watching the game now and the slow start isn’t all on Ronnie. The team missed some pretty open shots and didn’t do a great job getting back on defense and let in a lot of trailing 3s.

Yeah, Tony did say something about them cruising back on defense and that were acting too "cool." I have a feeling he will address that.
Still, I would like to see us come out of the gate like Carl Lewis not Dave Wottle.

 

[Jack Strop]

I’m watching the game now and the slow start isn’t all on Ronnie. The team missed some pretty open shots and didn’t do a great job getting back on defense and let in a lot of trailing 3s.

Tony said in the presser that the team was cooly floating back to play defense and not sprinting back to set up properly. Not Ronnie's fault. The team needs to dial in and stay on the call. The defensive energy fuels the offense—that is what Tony has been preaching. And we see it work, often—needs to happen for more time during games, especially to help avoid Mason's notorious slow starts.

 

[GMUgemini]

I also don’t want to take anything away from Okojie. He’s been playing incredibly well. It’s great to see.

 

[Pablo]

Baraka Okojie Named A-10 Rookie of the Week - George Mason University Athletics

George Mason University men's basketball freshman guard Baraka Okojie has been named A-10 Co-Rookie of the Week, the league office announced Monday.

gomason.com

"It marks the first time in his career Okojie has earned the weekly accolade. He shares the award with La Salle's Tunde Vahlberg Fasasi.

Okojie tallied a career-best 18 points, made 5-of-6 field goal attempts and dished out two assists in George Mason's 92-84 win against Rhode Island Saturday. The Brampton, Ontario product also went 8-of-10 from the free throw line and was a game-best +15 (+/-) when on the floor.

With Mason ahead 63-62 midway through the second half, Okojie either got a big rebound or a steal on three consecutive possessions. He burst up the floor on each and scored on one possession, then assisted on the next two. It was part of a 7-0 spurt that changed the dynamic of the game and gave the Patriots a 70-62 edge with 8:14 left.

Okojie has been playing outstanding basketball of late, while averaging 11.7 points, 2.7 assists, 2.3 steals and 25.6 minutes over the past three contests. He's shooting 56.3 percent from the floor during that stretch.

On the season, he ranks t-8th among freshmen nationally in free throw attempts (84) and is 10th in free throws made."

 

[mkaufman1]

Was thinking about it and Baraka Okojie is probably very similiar in the type of guard that Marquise Moore was. I definitely think Okojie may have higher potential but its early to tell.

For anyone interested, I cut and pasted MM frosh year stats and Baraka Okojie's stats below. If you want to go deeper, you can see that Marquise improved sophomore year and many of the areas he improved in (scoring, free throws etc) are already what Okojie is at. For example, Marquise went from 40.4% from two to 47% from two. Baraka already is at 54.8% from 2. Baraka is also a better shooter from deep, although Marquise wasn't as willing to shoot it from deep until really sophomore year. Of course Baraka played more minutes his frosh year compared to Marquise, but you can generally get the hint of where things can go.

Anyway, heres a direct comparison and here are the links if anyone wants to look and compare. Might be an interesting look at what Baraka's ceiling might look to exceed and some interesting early offseason discussion.

Marquise Moore College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

Marquise Moore - Stats, Game Logs, Splits, and much more

www.sports-reference.com

Baraka Okojie College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

Baraka Okojie - Stats, Game Logs, Splits, and much more

www.sports-reference.com

Marquise Moore Frosh Year Stats

Season	School	Conf	Class	G	GS	MP	FG	FGA	FG%	2P	2PA	2P%	3P	3PA	3P%	FT	FTA	FT%	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
2013-14	George Mason	A-10	FR	26	19	577	36	89	.404	36	89	.404	0	0		29	37	.784	12	50	62	69	14	16	40	51	101

Baraka Okojie Frosh year stats

Season	School	Conf	Class	G	GS	MP	FG	FGA	FG%	2P	2PA	2P%	3P	3PA	3P%	FT	FTA	FT%	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
2023-24	George Mason	A-10	FR	32	10	782	74	158	.468	63	115	.548	11	43	.256	99	136	.728	17	74	91	78	46	2	51	65	258

 

[GMU79]

Was thinking about it and Baraka Okojie is probably very similiar in the type of guard that Marquise Moore was. I definitely think Okojie may have higher potential but its early to tell.

For anyone interested, I cut and pasted MM frosh year stats and Baraka Okojie's stats below. If you want to go deeper, you can see that Marquise improved sophomore year and many of the areas he improved in (scoring, free throws etc) are already what Okojie is at. For example, Marquise went from 40.4% from two to 47% from two. Baraka already is at 54.8% from 2. Baraka is also a better shooter from deep, although Marquise wasn't as willing to shoot it from deep until really sophomore year.

Anyway, heres a direct comparison and here are the links if anyone wants to look and compare. Might be an interesting look at what Baraka's ceiling might look to exceed and some interesting early offseason discussion.

Marquise Moore College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

Marquise Moore - Stats, Game Logs, Splits, and much more

www.sports-reference.com

Baraka Okojie College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

Baraka Okojie - Stats, Game Logs, Splits, and much more

www.sports-reference.com

Marquise Moore Frosh Year Stats

Season	School	Conf	Class	G	GS	MP	FG	FGA	FG%	2P	2PA	2P%	3P	3PA	3P%	FT	FTA	FT%	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
2013-14	George Mason	A-10	FR	26	19	577	36	89	.404	36	89	.404	0	0		29	37	.784	12	50	62	69	14	16	40	51	101

Baraka Okojie Frosh year stats

Season	School	Conf	Class	G	GS	MP	FG	FGA	FG%	2P	2PA	2P%	3P	3PA	3P%	FT	FTA	FT%	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
2023-24	George Mason	A-10	FR	32	10	782	74	158	.468	63	115	.548	11	43	.256	99	136	.728	17	74	91	78	46	2	51	65	258

All Baraka really needs to excell from 3 is a funky elbow motion.

 

[Falco]

To be in the same conversation as Moore is a good sign. Okojie has a bright future.

Let’s not forget Moore was a rebound machine his senior year.

 

[GMUgemini]

To be in the same conversation as Moore is a good sign. Okojie has a bright future.

Let’s not forget Moore was a rebound machine his senior year.

He was also largely unguardable despite not being able to shoot. Guys would sag five feet off him and he’d still get to the rim

 

[jruby]

He also enrolled early. I think he’s still got a big jump in him, he was suppose to be a high school senior.

 

[Falco]

He also enrolled early. I think he’s still got a big jump in him, he was suppose to be a high school senior.

I liked how Skinn slow rolled Okojie out, especially given this nugget. I didn’t know he was that young.

How many times did we see Otis hit a wall at the end of the year, after DP rode him all season long.

 

[mkaufman1]

I liked how Skinn slow rolled Okojie out, especially given this nugget. I didn’t know he was that young.

How many times did we see Otis hit a wall at the end of the year, after DP rode him all season long.

Thankfully we have a staff that doesn't plan on rolling a guy out 35 minutes night after night, and plans for depth at each position.

 

[jruby]

You mean build a complete team? HA, what a concept. I think there were some holes this year but going forward I think he figures out the depth complete team thing. Tony already did more in 3 months towards building a complete team than any of 3 previous coaches. I think jumping straight into the A10 as a first time head coach isn't easy and he was dealing with a lot.

 

[mkaufman1]

You mean build a complete team? HA, what a concept. I think there were some holes this year but going forward I think he figures out the depth complete team thing. Tony already did more in 3 months towards building a complete team than any of 3 previous coaches. I think jumping straight into the A10 as a first time head coach isn't easy and he was dealing with a lot.

Agree completely. And he did a great job as a first time coach.

 

[GunstonsGhost]

Good casual interview with BO. Goes into his high school career, AAU, moving to the states, and his freshmen year at Mason. He's got a good head on his shoulders. I hope he sticks with us. His maturity will be a great asset.

View: https://youtu.be/Gm6yHp_8rPA?si=-pjLn-t5rQ1lAh8w

 

[mkaufman1]

Baraka to the portal.

 

[HoopsAdmin]

This sucks. I hate that we are now a farm league team for the P5.

Keep it classy with the comments, please. I also urge those of you on Twitter/X to stay classy there too. Don't burn any bridges that don't need to be burned.