Mercer’s Baraka Okojie brings points and personality

When Mercer basketball star Baraka Okojie is asked what defines him, he instantly brings up his family.

The junior point guard and Ontario, Canada, native talks about the influence of his parents and their cultures — his mother is from Kenya and his father is from Nigeria — along with his younger sister and older brother, the latter of whom is a basketball player at Howard University. He glows over them all.

You might not even guess that Okojie is a pretty incredible hoops player himself.

He gets around to that eventually.

“I’ve been playing basketball ever since I can remember,” Okojie told The Melody. “I think I’ve taken something into my game from everywhere I’ve been. I’ve learned a lot.”

Okojie has gone from Canada to Florida to Virginia to Tennessee, playing basketball against future NBA talents and leading incredible upsets against nationally-ranked teams. He is passionate about basketball but also about plenty of other things — TV shows, music, his teammates and their video game showdowns.

Okojie has a huge personality — and that may be exactly what Mercer’s basketball program needs.

A longtime connection

Okojie’s road to Mercer was a long, winding one that began when he played prep basketball in Florida. It was there that he forged a connection with Ryan Ridder, Mercer’s current head coach, when Ridder was still the head coach at UT Martin.

“He played at DME (high school) in Daytona Beach, and that’s where we’re from. His high school coach I coached in AAU. I’ve just known that family for a long time,” Ridder said. “Out of high school we really wanted to recruit him, but UT Martin didn’t feel like the right fit at the time.”

Recruiting Okojie didn’t get any easier after he played for George Mason University and averaged almost 10 points per game and played a key role as a starter. He scored a career-best 19 points — all in the second half, incredibly — when George Mason upset then-No. 16 Dayton in an Atlantic 10 game of epic proportions.

“Those are the type of games you want to play in. I didn’t have a single point in the first half, but my coaches at the time got on me to be more aggressive,” Okojie said of his second-half outburst as a freshman. “Those games help you learn about confidence. Just playing basketball, going out there and being myself is probably the biggest thing.”

After his all-conference season at GMU, Okojie landed at Memphis, where he played a crucial role for the Tigers as they finished ranked in the Top 25, won the American Athletic Conference Championship and earned a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament, giving the sophomore valuable experience.

“My last two schools I was the youngest kid on the team. Being able to learn from the older guys, being able to get a lot of playing time my freshman year was big — having that trial-and-error kind of learning situation,” Okojie said. “Then last year (at Memphis) was an entirely new kind of learning situation, playing with All-Americans and NBA players, I learned how to work … I learned how not just to be in the gym for a long time but how to be effective while you’re in the gym.”

Ridder and the Mercer staff knew they would target him that offseason.

“He’s an elite leader. He’s a connector. He’s got incredible experience for a player his age. I mean, we go play at Tennessee, our team has five turnovers. He’s a huge part of that,” Ridder said of his point guard. “From a basketball perspective, he’s just so steady … He’s played in an NCAA tournament game, he’s not going to shy away from the moment.”

Okojie, now with a more developed style of play, has not disappointed since his arrival in Macon. He is averaging more than 15 points per game through the Bears’ first four games with 20 assists in that span.

“I feel like I’m a floor general now, I’m a lot tougher,” Okojie said of his growth as a player. “I’m trying to develop into a leader. I’ve worked a lot on my scoring this year and I feel like it really matches my passing game.”

Almost as impressive as Okojie’s athleticism, though, is his desire to succeed — and to push his teammates to do big things.

Being a leader

His team-building skills are on display after a practice at Hawkins Arena. As the players have a little free throw shooting contest, Okojie jokes and laughs with almost every teammate.

“I feel like to be a leader on and off the court, you kind of have to have a personality,” Okojie said. “I’m one of those guys that wants to lead by example but also lead with my voice, so it’s just about getting comfortable with the guys over the summer and having fun.”

Okojie’s friendliness and humor also show when he talks about the NBA 2K tournaments the team plays — he says he never wins the 2K games, although when they play NCAA College Football it’s a different story — or when he sarcastically begins singing songs around his teammates.

He also loves to talk TV. He’s thoroughly invested in a number of television shows, keeping track of his favorites in a couple of interesting ways.

“Ever since 2020 I’ve kept a list of shows I’ve watched or started watching in the notes app on my phone,” he said. “Then I was thinking over the summer about, ‘What’s the biggest thing about Baraka besides basketball?’ I’m a TV show guy.”

Okojie’s way of showing that passion is a weaving series of tattoos on his left arm, ink he acquired over the summer. He didn’t have any tattoos before this year. His favorite is a headshot of Jon Snow, a popular character from “Game of Thrones,” which Okojie is currently rewatching.

“I watch a lot of sports, too — obviously a lot of basketball. I like college football and I watch a lot of women’s volleyball in my spare time, too,” he said. “I’m really not a big baseball guy, but then the Blue Jays made the World Series. That was my first time watching baseball; that was really fun.”

Okojie’s variety of interests help him mesh well with the team — a particularly important task given the transfer-heavy makeup of Mercer’s roster.

“We’ve got a group of good dudes. They’re meshing, (Baraka) and everyone else. You get nine or 10 new guys, they don’t know each other, they have different backgrounds — but they have a very mature sense to them. They’re about their work,” Ridder said of Okojie and his team. “They have a common ground as competitors; they want to do what’s right.”

The Bears are 2-2 so far as the season is in its infancy. Ridder said the team is dealing with a bit of injury trouble, but the attitude and talent — the buy-in, the smiles and the skills — are there. Okojie said he agrees.

“This is only going to get better and better,” Okojie said. “Just watch.”