Nick Rakocevic wins Pac-12 Player of the Week

Junior forward Nick Rakocevic earned his first career Pac-12 Player of the Week honor for the week of Jan. 7 when the Trojans faced Cal and Stanford at home. This marks the first Pac-12 Player of the Week award for USC this season.

Rakocevic was fundamental in the Trojans’ feat of starting conference play 2-0. In an 82-73 victory over Cal, he boasted a career-high 27 points and eight rebounds while shooting 85 percent from the field and leading the team in both points and rebounds. He had a similarly impressive showing in the 77-66 victory over Stanford, where he again led the team with 23 points and 10 rebounds. His 57 percent shooting from the field was enough to help fend off a late comeback from the Cardinal.

He held combined averages of 25 points, a 69.7 field goal percentage and nine rebounds per game to secure his Pac-12 recognition.

Throughout the last 15 games of the season, Rakocevic has averaged 15.7 points and 10.1 rebounds per game. As a sophomore, he averaged 8.1 points per game and 5.2 during his freshman season.

USC will travel to Oregon to play Oregon State Thursday and Oregon Sunday.