Thirty years ago, the season that ended with George Mason's first NCAA bid did not start auspiciously.

Looking back. there should be no wonders why there were troubles at the start of the 1988-89 season.

  The Patriots were on their third head coach in three years, Ernie Nestor, who followed Rick Barnes' one-year tenor, which had been preceded by the seven-year Joe Harrington era.

  Barnes had more effect on the program than one year as head coach. He had been Harrington's assistant for five seasons in the early '80s as the two hustled for recruits and pushed the administration for facility and program upgrades.

 

  Nestor was hired late enough in the spring, after Barnes replaced Rick Pitino at Providence, that he didn't have sufficient time to recruit. Nor did he have much on-court time with the players he inherited, under NCAA rules at the time, before practice began in mid-October.

   So Nestor needed to get to know the players, whose 20-10 record the year before had not attracted NCAA or NIT berths, much to the team's disappointment. The players needed to get to know their coach, who had made a name for himself as an assistant to fast-rising Lou Campanelli at James Madison and California.

   By late January, the Patriots were 6-9. These days that would be enough to start a social media firestorm and a #FireErnieNestor hashtag. Kevin McNamara, a key reserve on the team, appreciated Nestor never pushing the panic button.

   "What Ernie was so good at was being positive and upbeat," McNamara said. "When we were 6-9, he wasn't beating us up. He stayed positive and supported us. He never got too high or too low. I always said he was the kind of guy you'd like for your girlfriend's father. He was a great man."

   Nestor, now 72 and in his fifth decade of college coaching, as an assistant to Danny Manning at Wake Forest, was focused on the process, acquainting himself with the players' abilities and personalities.

   "Any time you go through that, kids might be reticent to commit," he said about three coaches in three years. "They've heard it all before: 'We're going to build something here …

   "Rick had been there one year, did a great job, created a lot of energy. They were hurt when he left. There was a different personality type coming in. I was someone who had no connection to them, no connection to George Mason. Obviously, it took me a while to learn the kids, learn the school."  

   After losing at home to Richmond 84-61 on 1/21/89, the Patriots won seven in a row, lost at Richmond 73-67 and then ended the Colonial Athletic Association regular season with four consecutive wins.

   The team had established an identity. They tried and ditched a pressing defense favored by Barnes. Nestor installed former small forward Steve Smith, a 6-3 junior, as point guard and moved 5-10 freshman Mike Hargett from the point to the wing.

  "I talked to Steve recently and kidded him, 'You were a point guard who led us in dunks and blocked shots,'" Nestor said. "He was a slender kid who could really elevate. He had a sense of the game.

  "Mike Hargett looked like a point guard. When we got him off the point and on the wing, he was much better. He could really shoot."

  The team's star was Kenny Sanders, who was "6-5 in high heels," according to 6-11 reserve post Henri Abrams. (It was Abrams who really led the team in blocked shots (44) though Smith's total of 38 was impressive for a guard.)
 

  Sanders, who totaled more than 2,000 career points and more than 1,000 career rebounds, averaged a double double with 22.7 ppg and 10.9 ppg as a senior while shooting 51.5%. Not bad for someone who was not a jumping jack.

 "I don't ever remember him dunking; that shows how great he was," said Herb Krusen, an assistant coach. "Kenny was the real deal."

 Said Jeff Riley, the PA announcer for home games and a radio color commentator for away games, "Kenny was ridiculous. He went after everything. He was just so strong and passionate. He insisted on getting every ball.

 Sanders, who attended McKinley Tech in DC, flirted with the big time when he strongly considered transferring to Oklahoma, which he visited and where he earned compliments from playing with Sooner great Wayman Tisdale. Ultimately, Sanders decided to stay at Mason.

  "It doesn't bother me that other players get more publicity, because deep down I know I'm a good player, too," Sanders told The Washington Post. "I'm stronger than most college players and quicker than a lot and I'm not gonna back down." 

  Sanders had help inside from 6-7 sophomore Robert Dykes, who spent five years in the Navy after high school before enrolling at Mason. He was a rapidly improving player who would become CAA Player of the Year the next season.
 

  By the end of 1988-89, JC transfer Chuck Broadnax moved into the starting lineup, in part because of his shooting. Guard Earl Moore, McNamara and Abrams provided solid play off the bench.

  The Patriots entered the CAA Tournament at Hampton Coliseum with an 11-1 mark in their previous 12 games and the knowledge that to earn an NCAA bid they'd probably have to earn the automatic qualifier by winning three games in three days.

  They may have been the No.2 seed on paper, but they were No.1 in their minds. Besides being on a roll, the Patriots were on a mission after East Carolina's Blue Edwards, who eventually played briefly in the NBA, was named CAA POY over Sanders, greatly respected by teammates for his unselfishness.

  "That made it personal. We wanted to show the CAA people they had made a mistake," Abrams said.

  Being irked and confident is a good combination for teams.  "As teams win, they get more confident," Nestor said. "Basketball is like everything else in life: If you don't have confidence, you're not going to do it well. We were not a confident team early."

  The Patriots figured they'd have to knock off Richmond, their recent nemesis, to win the title. But Richmond was beaten in the semis 59-56 by UNC Wilmington. After an opening 75-72 win against William & Mary, the Patriots beat East Carolina 65-58 in the semifinals despite Edwards' 34 points.

  The title game against UNCW, a 78-72 OT win, was a grind. Sanders had 19 points and 19 rebounds to lead the Patriots whose starters all scored in double figures. Broadnax and Hargett hit threes early in OT as the Patriots held a 17-11 advantage in the extra period.

  In a post-game interview, Sanders could have been speaking for the rest of the team and coaches when he said, "It's the best feeling I've ever had to be going to the NCAAs and putting the school on the map."

    The euphoria didn't last long. The planned trip back to campus during spring break was delayed by a day due to a snowstorm. There was no time for a community celebration.

   The team with a No.15 seed was soon on the way to Tucson and a matchup with No.2 seed and perennial power Indiana, coached by legend Bob Knight, which won 99-85 after leading 56-27 at halftime.

   The '89ers finished 20-11, going 16-2 after the slow start. They elevated the national profile of a young, quickly growing university that did not become an independent institution until 1972 and did not join the NCAA Division I until 1978-79.

  "Joe (Harrington) laid the foundation; Rick (Barnes) came in and did a terrific job," Nestor said. "We didn't play well in Tucson, but it was a great experience for the program. The players cherished it. It was like George Mason had come in from the cold."