It’s Year 3 of the Tony Skinn era, and for the George Mason University men’s basketball team, it’s the highest expectations have been since the program joined the Atlantic 10.
Last year, GMU was the surprise team of the conference, finishing 24-7 overall (15-3 in A-10 play), earning a share of the regular-season conference title, reaching the A-10 championship game, qualifying for the NIT, and even receiving votes in the Associated Press poll for a few weeks. But if you’ve followed Skinn’s journey at his alma mater, none of it should’ve been very surprising.
From Day 1, it was clear the starting point guard of Mason’s magical 2006 Final Four team meant business. For the first time since Jim Larranaga’s departure, GMU has a coach who truly bleeds green and gold. The signs of a rising program were there during Skinn’s first season in 2023-24, headlined by a win over a ranked Dayton squad in February. Even though the results were inconsistent, the team played with heart and passion every game, a credit to the culture their head coach has instilled.
It all came together in Year 2, but this season will bring Skinn’s biggest challenge yet: proving it’s sustainable, with a nearly entirely overhauled roster. Only two players — preseason All-Conference First Team point guard Brayden O’Connor and forward Stas Sivka — return from last year, losing everyone else to either graduation or the transfer portal. But the portal giveth as much as it taketh away, and GMU was able to bring in the top incoming transfer class in the conference, headlined by Kory Mincy, Jermahri “Fatt” Hill, and former Maryland Terrapin Jahari Long. Mason also has three talented freshmen in Emmanuel Kanga, Skinn’s son Isaiah Skinn, and the best Devin Booker in basketball.
It will be fascinating to watch how all of the puzzle pieces end up fitting together. In GMU’s 74-41 preseason exhibition win over Alfred University, O’Connor and Long were joined in the starting lineup by Masai Troutman, Riley Allenspach, and Dola Adebayo. 15 players suited up for the Patriots with 10 playing double-digit minutes, and that didn’t even include Hill. Much like last year’s squad, this is a team that should be able to rely on its depth as one of its biggest strengths.
Mason begins the season ranked 91st at KenPom.com, its highest start-of-season ranking since 2014 and the fifth-best team in the Atlantic 10. The Patriots were picked to finish sixth in the conference preseason poll, behind VCU, Saint Louis, Dayton, George Washington, and Loyola-Chicago. The Patriots have outperformed their preseason projections in both seasons under Skinn thus far, and if they can do so again, they’ll be right in the mix to win the conference.
Despite a brief scare that Skinn might depart to take the University of Maryland job, GMU was able to retain the most important member of its program, and he now has a proven resume to build upon. As long as this new batch of players can buy in and build chemistry under Skinn’s leadership, it should be another successful season in Fairfax.
