Marfo!
Get excited. Your George Mason Patriots have brought in Mercer point guard Baraka Okojie. The same Baraka Okojie that was trending toward being a star in this conference late in his freshman year.
No scouting section will be necessary. We know what he looks like in this conference, and it will be awesome.
During his freshman year at Mason, Okojie was all-Freshman, and then went to play for Penny Hardaway at Memphis where his talents were absolutely not maximized. After that, he went onto Mercer and showed what the Canadian guard can do.
Baraka Okojie By The Numbers
During his junior season at Mercer, Okojie averaged 19.7 points, a conference-leading 5.3 assists, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.4 steals in 34.1 minutes per game on 57% true shooting.
Offense
Baraka shot 32.5% from three, 47% from two, and 81.3% from the line. That is fine, but the real value comes from the free throws. He had a free throw rate of 69.8, 31st in the country, which got up to a league-leading 81.4 in SoCon play.
The foul drawing is nuts, as he drew 7.5 fouls per 40. That is ninth in the country. This guy is a 6’3 guard, not a Emmanuel Kanga type big.
The offensive load was very heavy on him. A 29.6% usage rate, taking 25.4% of the shots (which is lower than reality due to the free throws), along with a 28.5% assist rate compared to a 15.5% turnover rate.
I gave him extra credit with the foul drawing so I have to take some away. You can’t commit turnovers when you take shots, and you also cannot when you get to the line. It doesn’t lessen his overall offensive prowess since the free throw line is an objectively good outcome, but it does misrepresent the playmaking a tad bit.
Mercer had an eFG% of 52.4 with Okojie on the floor, and 57% with him off. This would normally be alarming, but eFG% doesn’t take into account the fouls he drew, along with the turnovers he did not commit.
The eFG% is so low because he gets fouled so much at the rim.
Defense
This is kind of a boring section.
Baraka has a steal rate of 2.2%, which is considered active. He only commits 2.6 fouls per 40, which is good for keeping him in the game.
With Okojie on the court, Mercer gave up an eFG of 51.6%. With him off, it dropped to 50.4%. That is fine, and can be expected with an offensive engine who plays 34 minutes a game. Of course the guy in that slot for six minutes should be exerting more effort on the defensive end than the guy with so much offensive responsibility.
Note: That is removing the non-D1 games since Okojie missed one of their three.
Ratings
Playmaking: 60 – Since he is projecting to be the primary playmaker, this will include his passing. A 28.5% assist rate and a 15.5% turnover rate is great for an offensive engine like Okojie. Not only does he score of his rim pressure, he creates for others. This would be a 65 without accounting for the turnover rate thing I mentioned earlier.
Driving: 75 – His rim pressure is crazy. A 69.8 free throw rate is wild for a guy with such a high volume of shots. There are going to be games where you can tell he is scoring 25 at the first media timeout. 7.5 fouls drawn per 40 is nuts as a guard. I want to make this an 80 so bad.
Finishing: 55 – It is hard to evaluate the finishing since he draws so many fouls, but he shot 54.9% at the rim last year, with only 17.9% being assisted on.
Shooting: 55 – 32.5% on 6.4 attempts per 100 possessions would be a 50, but only 40.5% of his threes being assisted on gets him a bump, along with 42.3% of his midranges going in, and 81.3% of free throws. There could be some room for growth here.
Defense: 55/45 – We have seen Okojie be a good defender as a true freshman, but it will be a question mark whether he can get to that while carrying a major load on offense with no Keyshawn Hall or Darius Maddox to take pressure off. A 2.2% steal rate means he is active somewhat. It was 3.8% as a freshman.
Vertical Athleticism: 40 – As fast as he goes forward, he does not go up. It looks like Okojie can barely dunk.
Horizontal Athleticism: 70 – His first step is unstoppable. I remember seeing it in a practice before the season and that’s when I realized this guy was going to be good early.
What Does This Mean For Mason?
This is the most dynamic guard Mason will have had in a very long time. Okojie was amazing at putting pressure on the rim three years ago, and has added an average jumpshot that opponents have to respect, which will make his rim pressure even better.
Baraka is going to get himself a lot of points, while getting other Mason players open shots. Think of the high moments from Fatt Hill where he was just unstoppable getting to the rim some nights. I expect that from BO every game.
If I am picking a preseason All-A10 First Team, Baraka Okojie is on it. This is a guy that you can be happy with being the number one option. Get excited, Mason Nation.
