At the beginning of the season, I think I can say truly say nobody pictured the conference standings to have George Mason holding sole possession of first place. Most people picked the usual suspects like Dayton and VCU to still hold dominance halfway through conference play. However, the Patriots have defied the odds of having brand new team with a second-year head coach. Currently, the Green & Gold are 12-1 in conference play and currently on an 11-game win streak, which also happens to be the best conference record start in the 59-year history of the program. The Patriots have the wonderful opportunity to win the regular season title, something that hasn’t been done since 2000.
As much as I want to believe that it is an accident that everything is just right in place, I don’t think that’s the case either. In his second season, Tony Skinn has given the Patriots their defensive identity back something that was seen briefly in the English era but what made team nationally known during the Larrañaga era.
Currently George Mason is ranked ninth nationally in defensive rating and ranks second in the nation in FG defense (.365). Additionally, Mason is also ranked in the top 20 in the nation in several other defensive categories. As the old saying goes, defense wins championships and historically when Mason has good defense typically lead to post season success. The last Patriots team that was this good defensive was 2011 team which earned an at large bid as an 8 seed in the NCAA tournament
This version of Green & Gold has similar battle scars to its elite teams of their past. Second year Head coach Tony Skinn was leader one of those teams nearly 20 years ago with the same chip on his shoulder which eventually help lead his 2006 Patriots squad to a Final Four berth and an iconic Cinderella run for the history books. “These guys are connected, and I think we’re seeing something special” said Coach Skinn after a heroic overtime win against Saint Louis on February 11th. There is something special going on in Fairfax. In the age of NIL, you could always except a high major with transfers and limited playing experience together as a group to be good, however it is unprecedented with the mid majors, it just simply doesn’t happen often.
Coach Skinn brought in transfers that represented an identity and culture that he is building. In his first year he brought guard Jared Billups from Siena and this past offseason KD Johnson from Auburn joined Green & Gold. Both have been instrumental in leading the Patriot Pressure for this season, especially Billups, who even grabbed 16 rebounds in their second victory against Geroge Washington. Both aren’t high volume scorers but leave an impact as glue guys that have been contagious to the rest of the team.
Although the defense this season has been elite this year, the offense at times has struggled along with turnovers that has put the Patriots in tight games. The last 3 games have been decided in overtime or less than 5 points. But even with the metrics there’s something different about this team. Maybe it’s the underdog mentality that having five seniors still has the college basketball world questioning the success of the mid major in Northern Virginia. Or maybe because the team wasn’t constructed like traditional mid major power with heavy playing experience as a group.
The Skinn era also brought in old school big men transfers Jaylen Haynes and Giovanni Emerjuru that have shown that hardnose traditional front courts still are effective in today’s game of big men shooting three-pointers. Haynes is currently almost averaging a double-double with 12.7 points and 7 rebounds a game while Emerjuru is averaging 7.4 points and 4.4 rebounds. Both have been anchoring the defense with their presence in the paint.
Regardless of the reason, similar to 2011 and 2006, The Patriots are giving us sweet surprises into March and as longtime Northern Virginia resident it’s been a pleasure to see the team being led by one of the “Kryptonite Kids” that gave Fairfax a legendary glass slipper.
The Patriots look to extend the streak in a huge road test in what could be for the regular season title with rival VCU in Richmond on Saturday February 22nd at 4:30pm
