George Mason coach Dave Paulsen jokingly calls DeAndre Abram – all 6-feet-7 inches and 182 pounds of him – Mr. Muscle Man.
Abram was a shooting guard at Creekview HS in Carrollton, Texas. Paulsen visualized him as a small forward at Mason.
But on Saturday night, when the Patriots had only a skeleton crew available against Longwood at EagleBank Arena, Abram was a power forward.
In his debut as a starter, Abram recorded a career-high 24 points plus seven rebounds in a 75-70 victory that Paulsen termed "a real great win, a gut-check performance.”
With the roster down to seven available scholarship players, the Patriots were especially shy on inside options. Center Shevon Thompson was out with a foot injury; forward Julian Royal remained sidelined with concussion problems; forward Marko Guanicic is serving an academic suspension.
Abram, named A-10 Rookie of the Week, learned just before the game that he'd be the starter. “I was excited; I knew I had to step up,” he said. “I just had to play my game. I knew they needed me to rebound because we were short of men. I know I was lacking size; I knew I'd have to box out my man and make sure he didn't get rebounds over me. I feel like I did great job on doing that.”
Abram, who shot 8-for-14 including 3-for-8 from three-point range, got off to a slow start shooting. He had an air ball and hit the side of the backboard among his first three attempts.
Paulsen liked that the freshman shook it off; concentrating on the next play was a major theme of recent practices.
“He played great,” Paulsen said. “The big thing is he didn't let mistakes bother him. Part of it was he knew he was going to play all the time because there weren't a lot of other guys.
“He hit some big shots. What I liked is he rebounded. He's going to give up strength and bulk, but we need him to rebound. A couple of his offensive rebounds were big. There was a big (defensive) rebound late in the game. He also drove the ball a bit, hit a couple of floaters. That was important.”
So were the three threes that Abram hit. He entered the game shooting 6-for-28 (21.4%) from beyond the arc, but his confidence wasn't damaged.
“I've been trying to put in overtime -- getting up shots with coach (Duane) Simpkins, just trying to work on my game,” Abram said. “I felt confident while I was shooting (Saturday). And my teammates kept finding me so I kept shooting.”
The coaching staff feels fortunate they found Abram, who had no firm offers after finishing his senior season. When four Mason players transferred in the wake of Paulsen replacing Paul Hewitt in late March, the staff was looking for wing players.
Simpkins heard about a rangy kid in Texas. The staff got some tape, liked what they saw and heard great reports about Abram's character. Within a week Abram visited campus and committed in May.
"I like his versatility," Paulsen said. "I think he has a shot at being a really good player."
Abram feels most comfortable playing the 3 (small forward) but has no complaints about the shift to the 4 (power forward).
“It gives me more of an opportunity to be on the court,” Abram said. “I'm down for whatever coach needs me to do for us to win.”
