Homegrown Leader

Embracing his local roots, Mekhi Conner readies for a defining sophomore season

Key Highlights

• ^{The Pioneers exceeded expectations with a 10-10 conference record and three wins over rival Fairfield}
• ^{Mekhi Conner, a first-year guard, was central to the late-season surge}
• ^{Earned MAAC All-Rookie Team honors, averaging 8.1 points, 6.6 assists (league-best) and 1.8 steals}
• ^{Head Coach Anthony Latina praises Conner’s character, humility and leadership potential}
• ^{Conner is expected to play a major role in the team's success}

The Pioneers men’s basketball team exceeded expectations a season ago, posting a 10-10 conference record and three wins over rival Fairfield, including one in the MAAC Tournament, before falling in a close quarterfinal.

For a team projected to struggle, a key to its late-season surge was first-year guard Mekhi Conner.

Like many promising mid-major college basketball players, Conner faced an important decision after a successful opening act: transfer or stay. “I was bombarded with questions: Do I stay? Do I go?” says Conner, who averaged 8.1 points, 1.8 steals and a league-best 6.6 assists per game while earning a spot on the MAAC All-Rookie Team. “But after talking with my family, coaches and teammates, we realized we could build something special if we stuck together.”

That recommitment was exactly what the staff who recruited him had hoped for, looking ahead to 2025-26. “Mekhi is a humble, high-character individual who will take on a bigger leadership role for our team this year,” says Sacred Heart Coach Anthony Latina. “If we are going to have the type of season we are hoping to have, Mekhi will be a big reason why.”

The Northeast has long been a hotbed of basketball point guard talent, producing some of the most skilled and successful floor generals in collegiate and professional hoops. The 6-foot-1-inch Conner is proud to be cut from that same cloth.

Conner has been around the game of basketball since the time he could walk. “My aunts and uncles played their whole lives; one of my uncles was a coach,” he says. “It was his idea to have me play with third- and fourth-grade kids when I was still in pre-K,” he adds. But the path to Division I basketball was not always clear.

Floor General: Mekhi Conner handed out a league-best 6.6 assists per game last season to make the MAAC All-Rookie Team.

At Notre Dame High School in West Haven, he broke his leg as a freshman, then faced the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic during his sophomore year. During his final two seasons of high school, however, Conner showed promise as a lead guard, earning all-state honors and even a McDonald’s All-American nomination. Still, Division I offers didn’t come. Nursing a hamstring injury, he decided on a post-grad year at Putnam Science Academy. That summer, his workouts and games caught Latina’s eye.

“We bonded instantly,” Conner says. “He was at every 5 a.m. workout I had, driving two hours plus, five days a week to see me; at a certain point I was seeing him and his staff more than my family.” It was this commitment, coupled with Conner’s passion to return close to his New Haven upbringing, that rewarded Latina and his staff with their guy.

Conner’s first-year season, though, was an adjustment. In the team’s first five games, he shot just 34% from the field. “I was struggling to figure out what I needed to do to help the team win, and I was forcing unnecessary parts of my game,” he admits. With the support of teammates and coaches—and film sessions after every game with Latina, he grew into the role.

Approaching his sophomore season, Conner’s motivation is clear. “We don’t just want to be decent,” he says. “We want to make history and give this community another trip to March Madness.”

For Conner, a Connecticut point guard through and through, leading this team to new heights is not just a goal—it’s a responsibility. Sometimes the boldest move is staying put.