Furman’s Smith named SoCon Player of the Week

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Furman guard PJay Smith Jr. has been named the Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for all contests from Feb. 24-March 2. The award is selected by the league office.
 

Smith, who won the honor for the fourth time this season, led Furman to a 2-0 record last week. The senior began his week with 19 points, four assists and a block in an 85-42 win over The Citadel on Feb. 26. Three days later, the LaVergne Tennessee, native poured in a game-high 26 points, including the game-winning 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds left, in the squad’s 78-75 road victory against rival Wofford. Smith also had a career-high four steals and went a perfect 11-for-11 at the charity stripe against the Terriers.

For the week, Smith averaged 22.5 points and 2.0 steals, while shooting 47.4 percent from beyond the arc and 100 percent from the free-throw line.

Furman (23-8, 11-7 SoCon), who is on a four-game winning streak, enters the 2025 Ingles Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Championship as the No. 5 seed and will take on the fourth seed, Samford, at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 8, inside Harrah’s Cherokee Center – Asheville in Asheville, North Carolina.

 
Other nominees: Quimari Peterson (ETSU), Ahmad Robinson (Mercer), Ronald Polite III (UNCG), Trey Fort (Samford), Honor Huff (Chattanooga) and Kyler Filewich (Wofford)

2024-25 SoCon Men’s Basketball Players of the Week
Nov. 11             PJay Smith Jr., Sr., G, Furman

Nov. 18             PJay Smith Jr., Sr., G, Furman

Nov. 25             Quimari Peterson, Sr., G, ETSU

Dec. 2              Ahmad Robinson, Sr., G, Mercer

Dec. 9              Tyler “Chip” Johnson, Gr., G, Mercer

Dec. 16             Trey Bonham, Sr., G, Chattanooga

Dec. 23             PJay Smith Jr., Sr., G, Furman

Dec. 30             Ahmad Robinson, Sr., G, Mercer

Jan. 6               Jaden Seymour, Sr., F, ETSU

Jan. 13             Kyler Filewich, Sr., C, Wofford

Jan. 20             Rickey Bradley Jr., Jr., G, VMI

Jan. 27             Jaden Seymour, Sr., F, ETSU

Feb. 3               Honor Huff, Jr., G, Chattanooga

Feb. 10             Marcus Kell, R-So., F, Western Carolina

Feb. 17             Marcus Kell, R-So., F, Western Carolina

Feb. 24             Quimari Peterson, Sr., G, ETSU

March 3            PJay Smith Jr., Sr., G, Furman