Head Coach: Tony Skinn (20-12); 2nd season
Theme song: A Milli by Lil Wayne
Last Season: George Mason basketball’s scope has quickly changed over the previous three seasons. While some of their last coaches could produce, nobody considered them severe contenders in the A10. Kim English’s hire put the program on the right track to building up the Patriots for real—albeit for two seasons—that could’ve given them a severe threat last season had English stayed and not taken the Providence job.
None of that mattered when program legend Tony Skinn was hired. Even with massive turnover via the portal, everyone viewed this hire as a grand slam. Skinn studied under Kevin Willard, Chris Holtmann, and Eric Konkol and played when Jim Larranaga was in Fairfax. He was the point guard of the 2006 Final Four team.
Skinn quickly assembled a team of quality players from power conferences and mid-major gems and inherited a few program veterans who would help with the adjustment period. The number of personnel changing would have most programs taking about a season or so to get everyone adjusted. In George Mason’s case, Skinn’s unit came together in a short amount of time. The Patriots fired off 20 wins in his first season as coach.
Although the postseason success left much to be desired, and the Patriots went 2-3 in their final five games, the season’s highlight came in an upset victory over the ranked Dayton Flyers, with four players scoring 12 points or more.
The Patriots return most of the core from last season, including experienced and talented upperclassmen. He brought the best transfer class in the league, combining size, skill, big-game experience, and promise. I do have them just missing out on the top four, but this team can certainly contend for the league crown.
Arrivals: KD Johnson* (Auburn), Jeremiah Quigley (Iona), Brayden O’Connor (UMass Lowell), Giovanni Emejuru (Siena), Bryson Cokley (F), Stas Sivka (F), Zach Anderson (FGCU), Justin Begg (F)
Departures: Baraka Okojie (T), Devin Dinkins (T), Keyshawn Hall (T), Malik Henry (T), Keyshawn Hall (T), Tre Wood, Amari Kelly, Nicholas Pavrette, Kam Johnson
Returnees: Jalen Haynes, Woody Newton*, Jared Billups, Darius Maddox*, Austin Ball
Potential Strengths: It’s hard for me to pick a starting point for George Mason because this roster up and down is built well. Skinn is keen on creating an athletic group with almost every skill set in the book. Mason will make their mark on defense this season, running around at blazing speed to force pressure and turnovers. This process is made easier by how athletic this team is; Mason has superior length, speed, and size over most teams in the A10, making them dangerous. Matching up with size and speed shouldn’t be a problem for Tony Skinn this season.
Among these great athletes is Darius Maddox, a now graduate student who averaged 14 points per game last season in a featured role. Maddox is an incredibly smooth scorer whose splits last season were as follows: 44/41/85 last season as the second option. This year, he is poised for all-conference recognition, which could transform him into one of the best scorers in the league.
Defensive headache Woody Newton will be annoying to match up with. Newton’s +1.3 DBPM was a significant boost for this team last year. If we are visualizing the sort of player he can be, I see some Thaddeus Young in him. He’s got the speed to rattle opposing bigs and the physicality to bully more petite guys on defense. Newton isn’t the best three-point shooter in the world, but 52% at the basket is helpful when running in transition.
While he doesn’t have quite Newton’s abilities, sophomore Austin Ball can have a role in this rotation. I like the idea of him as a mobile shooter coming off screens or being the kickout guy. He hit 32% of his threes as a freshman, albeit in a limited sample, but there’s a way for Ball to provide spacing to open up driving lanes. Brayden O’Connor will perform a similar role, coming over from UMass-Lowell as a career 35% shooter from three.
Skinn’s portal work this season was again excellent, headlined by Auburn transfer KD Johnson. He should fit into this team seamlessly with an incredible first step that gets him past almost any defender. Not only that, but he’s an unreal finisher at the rim for a 6’1” guard. Johnson shot 49% at the basket last year—most of the highlight tape of said finishes is circus layups or dunks, making him a viable threat inside. His passing, though displaying low assist totals, should make him one of the best distributors in the league. Johnson’s vision will certainly keep defenses guessing.
Thomas Quigley and three-star freshman Justin Begg will back him up. Quigley is fresh off an all-freshman pick at Iona, and Begg comes in after declining offers from Sam Houston and Towson. I give Quigley the edge over Begg and returnee Jared Billups, who lost his rotation spot last year because Quigley is a more proven product.
A transfer who I am highly interested in seeing is Zach Anderson, FGCU’s leading scorer from a season ago. Anderson was one of the better shooters available, clipping a whopping 46% of his threes last season. He’s got good size at 6’7”, which he uses to his advantage in post-ups and paint scoring, hitting 55% of his shots on the inside last year. If Skinn decides to run small ball, Anderson is certainly a candidate to play at the four or even possibly a stretch five.
More frontcourt names include Sienna import Giovanni Emejuru. The English native was mainly a low post-threat last season for a four-win Sienna group; perhaps he plays a minor role coming to Fairfax. He does offer a big body at 6’10”, 270 pounds, though his advanced defensive numbers are a bit suspect (this is also the result of a terrible basketball team). He’ll likely split time with freshman Stas Sivka down low.
George Mason’s group is impressive again this preseason. Tony Skinn has proven to be one of the better roster builders in the conference. It’s taken him no time to get to 20 wins AND continue the influx of great players as he progresses into year two.
Potential Weaknesses: One of the few things that could hurt this group is the need for a true shot-blocker down low. None of their big men may scream pure rim protection, which will be an interesting predicament for Skinn to navigate.
Can someone emerge into that? Yes, it’s entirely possible. Amari Kelly was in a similar mold last year and ended up leading the Patriots in blocks with 1.3 per game and rebounding. For me, at least, the candidate for that sort of emergence is likely Emejuru because of his overwhelming size up front. Again, his advanced defensive metrics sort of sucked, but that says more about Sienna last season than it does Emejuru himself.
My other issue with this team is needing more steam to finish games/the season. A10 play for this group was an experience, going 9-9 in conference play. But when you dive deeper into the numbers, the Patriots were 0-7 in games they lost by seven points or less in A10 play. Some of those teams were better than Mason, but it does come down to execution late in the game.
Going on three separate losing skids of three games in a row is an incredibly frustrating feat for a team that had lots of great talent last year. All these close calls resulted in Mason getting only the 9th seed in the conference tournament—had they flipped maybe one or two of those games, they’d received a much better seed and maybe could’ve seen themselves in the A10 quarterfinals.
Skinn’s new additions should ensure that 0-7 becomes more like 3-4 in close games. Many of these new imports have big game experience, which should keep everyone calm in close games. Expect Johnson, Maddox, or even someone like Anderson to have the ball in his hand in most situations like that.
X-Factor: This X-factor was easy to decide on for this team because of his impact at his previous stop. Jalen Haynes is the unquestioned decider for this year’s George Mason team. He’s built like a freight train at 6’8”, 250 pounds of pure strength. Haynes was mighty in the post at East Tennessee State and could eat up the glass on both sides of the ball. His conditioning will be a talking point amongst the A10 nerds regarding how long his impact is during rotations because he hasn’t seen the floor in a year. Still, if he does go in and starts wrecking opposing defenses, George Mason goes to another level of team.
Outlook: George Mason over VCU in my rankings this season. That’s crazy, right? I don’t agree that VCU should be in the top four. I find that Mason is the more complete team with many physical advantages. I have these guys just outside the top four because the teams I have ahead of them are better, in my estimation. However, if anyone can orchestrate as many new moving parts into a winning product in record time, Tony Skinn has proven to do it. It’s not too soon to say the guy is legit; he’s improved his group for a fighting chance at the title. He just needs a few things to fall his way to get his charges to the promise land.
