Offers on the table

Another busy summer of hitting the recruiting trails continues for Coach L and his assistants. They have been heavily perusing four players from the DC Assault U16 AAU team which has garnered a lot of attention at local and nationwide tournaments. Larranaga is doing what he does best and trying to get after these kids before they start to get more attention from big conference schools. Mason has offered to 2009 prospects Javorn Farrell (Ireton), Rashad Whack (McNamara), and Rodney McGruder (Carroll), as well as 2010 PG Daryl Traynham. McGruder is a my kind of prospect as he is described as the kind of player that is very athletic and known to " punish rims and get up and down the floor". Meanwhile Traynham is a 5'9" floor general and has been talked about as the "best transition ...

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Lamar takes it to the streets

Lamar Butler, probably the most recognizable Mason basketball alumni, is spending his summer days playing in the Goodman League which is known as "Washington's Premier Streetball League". The games are played at the Barry Farms Dwelling basketball courts located at Firth Sterling Avenue in Southeast Washington, D.C. The league, which has been around since 1975, features current and former NBA players, college players, and participants from various communities. Gilbert Arenas played last summer and you can find a video of it here. To me it seems streetball leagues like this would be more of Tony Skinn's style instead Lamar's, considering I have never seen anyone on the And 1 mixtape tour shot a three-point...

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Just watch them play!

The days of evaluating college players by actually watching them play might be numbered. Everywhere you look these days some "analyst" is making a case for some formula or equation they created that can more accurately evaluate talent. It's getting closer to the day when scouts won't even have to step away from their computers to evaluate talent. Soon NBA teams will hire guys like the ones from that show "Numb3rs" on CBS to tell them which players to draft. I think there is a reason guys like John Hollinger works for ESPN.com and not the front office of an NBA franchise; he has no idea what he's talking about. Take a look at his new system for evaluating college talent here. This article is free on ESPN insider this week, my god people pay to see this stuff? He goes on to explain the...

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Let the smack talk begin

Is it ever really too early to start making preseason rankings for college basketball? Collegehoopsnet.com never seems to think so and although I constantly write how much preseason rankings are total bullshit I can't help but join in on the hype. I mean what else are preseason rankings good for in college basketball other than to be the source of smack talk? And maybe this website looks like a jumbled myspace page but they have some great analysis and reviews. The website's creator Shawn Siegel (who claims to be the hardest working man on the internet) has put out an updated Top 50 preseason ranking list and he has Mason listed at #44. I can't say that I disagree with this ranking and I'm not afraid to say it could even be higher considering we return almost our entire starting lineup. ...

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Thick Skinn

Last season I would have to say the player I missed watching the most was Tony Skinn. Seemed like no one could slash and drive to basket, get to the foul line and make plays. It was an element the Patriots were missing last year that led to some of their struggles. But at least Skinn's skills are continuing to be showcased as the once France baller has now been given a shot on the Orlando Magic summer league team. Starting next month Skinn will get his chance to showcase his skills in front of NBA GMs and play his way into a full contract with a team. Although the league is mostly of NBA rookies and bench players, Skinn will still be going up against some good talent. I'm sure he'd love to show up Joakim Noah or Corey Brewer, but he...

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Recruit the Babies

USC head coach Tim Floyd recently received a verbal commitment from an eighth-grader, and you might think that is weird but its actually the second straight year he has done this. With all the strange recruiting rules the NCAA has its amazing to me how they don't seem to care about college coaches hanging around middle school gyms scouting 13 and 14 year old boys. There's limitations on text messaging and phone calls but not an age limit to when you can start stalking these kids? Has the PAC-10 really got that competitive that coaches have now resorted to signing kids to scholarships that have never played in a high school game?Frankly I don't see how watching any phenom prospect dominate eighth grade level competition can give you any insight as to what kind of player he will be like 5...

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Patriots to Face GW in BB&T Classic

All I can say is its about time we get a chance to play local rival George Washington, even if it will be a watered down product from previous years. They have dodged us for awhile now and like Maryland have been scared to travel down the beltway to take us on in the Patriot Center. God forbid they could give up their 10th home game in the row in December. Thanks to the BB&T classic we have got chances to take on local teams such as Maryland, GW, and Bucknell. I would rather we have a home and home type deal set-up with GW but we will see what happens as I believe this is the last year we are locked in to playing in the BB&T. GW has lost some quality guys but do return their leading scorer, Rice, from last years squad that was blown out by Vanderbilt in the first round of the NCAA...

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Weekend Bullets

Once again I managed to break basketball news before Gomason.comThe bookstore is now selling gold jerseys!Dayton and Vermont coming to Fairfax this fall?Rivals.com ranks mid-major recruiting (VCU #5)MDVarsity.com reports on Mason's elite camp last weekend, read it if you pay for the subscription service. I don't because that would be lost beer moneyMason assistant coach Chris Caputo will be at the Freshman All-American camp at Hoop Magic Sports Academy in Chantilly, Va (Don't let Florida steal our local talent!)Montrose Christian (MD) standout Kevon Moore lists Mason in his top...

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Suitable Replacement

When former Mason assistant coach James Johnson bolted from Fairfax to Hokie land in April he left a big void in the coaching staff. As if its not bad enough we lose recruits to a school that hasn't won consecutive NCAA tournament games since 1967 but now they get our coaches too? But hey yeah good for them, they need our help because Johnson is an excellent DC/Metro area recruiter and a defensive specialists. Although he was only at Mason for two seasons his efforts were no doubt a part of the Patriot's recent success. I can't confirm it yet but rumor has it that Larranaga is bringing in a former player he coached from his days at Bowling Green, Michael Huger to fill this last assistant position. Huger has spent the last two years as an assistant at Longwood, which might not sound like...

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Weekend Update

As summer recruiting heats up, Mason had a visit this weekend from a rising local prospect. Chris Cooper from Woodbridge, VA had Mason as his first stop along with Virginia, Virginia Tech, Penn State and Pittsburgh, according to scout.com. He is listed as a three-star recruit with an excellent low post game and rebounding. The 6'8", 215-pound Forest Park recruit would fill a huge hole that Will Thomas will be leaving after the 2007-2008 season. I know what your thinking, finally a low-post player taller than 6'7"! Let's all keep our fingers crossed. He has started to get more attention from some high major programs after the Southern Invitational Tournament he participated in with his AAU team. In that tournament he showed off his low post scoring, which is a difficult commodity for mid-major...

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On the Recruiting Trails

Coach Larranaga has had success recruiting in his own backyard but every once in awhile he will push hard to bring in an out of state kid. His latest 2008 prospect, Stacey Waters, hails from Michigan and is a 6'4" shooting guard with an excellent perimeter game. All of Larranaga's 2007 recruits have a great shooting touch so its obvious to see what caught his eye in this kid's game. He seems to be the same mold as John Vaughan and incoming freshman Cameron Long. Waters is viewed as a late bloomer that has just recently started to get offers from VCU and Central Michigan. A good mid-major coach has to be able to spot kids like this right from the start and get to him before the major teams start to notice him. Waters speaks of George Mason in an interview on rivals.com:"I heard from George...

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Spice up the Schedule

Early season tournaments have always given a preview of which teams could be dark horses in March. The pre-season NIT did wonders for Butler last year, giving them a chance to knock off some power house programs and ride the wave of success all year into the NCAA tournament. Mason could have really used a pre-season tournament to help with chemistry last year and this year they will get their chance to prove themselves early. The field was just announced for the Old Spice Classic which has the Patriots squaring off against Kansas State thanksgiving night on ESPN2. The tournament also features Penn State, South Carolina, Villanova, NC State, Rider and UCF. The casual college hoops fan might not think much of this Big 12 Kansas State team but there's nothing about them this year that should...

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Goodbye Triple X

Wow it sure was fun to have an ESPN radio station cover all of Mason's games last season but it looks like we have already been dropped. Last week Triple X ESPN radio announced that they had struck a partnership with Virginia Tech to cover their football and basketball games. At first it was thought that this wasn't necessarily the end of the their relationship with the Patriots; until reading Dave Preston's blog. In this blog entry, Preston (an anchor for the station) writes about the new partnership and in the comment section a fan asks if this means the end of Triple X covering Mason games. Preston's response is:Regretfully yes, after an exciting season of GMU basketball we have decided to make the change to VT Football and Basketball. We only wish we could carry both basketball programs....

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