Nov. 10, 2006
It only feels like forever since the George Mason men's basketball team took the court in Indianapolis in the school's first-ever Final Four. In reality, when the offseason ends on Saturday afternoon at Cleveland State University, it will have been just 31 weeks since the Patriots saw their magical run in the NCAA Tournament come to a close against the eventual national champions. But when the Patriots take the court on Saturday, what happened in 2005-06 won't matter one bit.
The Patriots will be putting a new starting lineup on the floor, with new leaders, new contributors and new challenges. More than 54 percent of the team's offense is gone as are a trio of senior leaders. In their place will be newcomers to Mason, newcomers to collegiate basketball and players returning from injury. Senior Gabe Norwood and juniors Will Thomas and Folarin Campbell will serve as tri-captains. All three will be in the starting lineup, and expected to join them are sophomore John Vaughan, who earned a medical redshirt in 2005-06, and Darryl Monroe, who transferred to Mason from Central Florida Community College, where he was an honorable mention Junior College All-American.
Expected to contribute quality frontcourt minutes off the bench are sophomores Sammy Hernandez and Chris Fleming, who appeared in more than 60 games between them last year, junior Jesus Urbina, also a medical redshirt in 2005-06, and Louis Birdsong, the team's lone freshman who was the Baltimore Catholic League Most Valuable Player last season. In the backcourt, Dre Smith, a first-team JUCO All-American at Cochise Community College last year and junior Jordan Carter should see extended minutes with seniors Tim Burns, Makan Konate and Charles Makings making up a deep bench.
So how good can the Patriots be in 2006-07? Campbell, a member of the Washington D.C. Regional All-Tournament team and Mason's leading scorer in the NCAA Tournament was named preseason second team All-CAA. Thomas, Mason's leading rebounder in the NCAA Tournament and a member of the CAA's All-Defensive Team, was named preseason first-team All-CAA. Thomas led the CAA in field-goal percentage last year. Smith, Monroe and Birdsong are three highly-rated signings and Urbina and Vaughan are expected to be rejuvenated after a year in which their competitive juices built up on the sidelines. Add to that the natural growth and development of Norwood, Carter, Hernandez, Fleming, Burns, Makings and Konate, and the Patriots may be deeper than last year with more flexibility in the lineup.
While Mason lost three seniors, Cleveland State has just that in their starting lineup. Guards Carlos English, Victor Morris and Raheem Moss will lead the Vikings. Moss scored 10 points per game, English contributed 8.1 ppg with 4.7 assists per game and Morris added 6.6 ppg. The frontcourt will be made up of Patrick Tatham (7.6 ppg, 6.0 rebounds per game) and J'Nathan Bullock (11.3 ppg, 4.5 rpg).
The Vikings also will be playing their first game under Gary Waters. Waters has 32 years of collegiate coaching experience and has been to the postseason six times in 10 years as a head coach. He led Kent State to a pair of NCAA appearances and he was 92-60 in five years, twice being named Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year. He also spent five years at Rutgers, putting together a 79-75 mark with three trips to the NIT.
Saturday's game is scheduled for a 3 p.m. tip at Goodman Arena, which seats 8,500. The game will not be televised but fans can hear the broadcast on Triple X Radio. Triple X can be heard on 94.3 FM, 92.7 FM and 730 AM.
