FAIRFAX, Va. – The ebbs and flows of a college basketball season are often difficult to predict, but one element that is a constant is the calendar.
 
Summer workouts turn into pre-season practice in the fall, with the non-conference season ramping up in November. Conference play follows in January.
 
But this season, even the calendar will remain murky as programs navigate the ever-changing environment around the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
For the Patriots, the uncertainty has been a challenge, but members of the program have remained positive and focused on controlling the aspects of the season they can manage internally.
 
The Mason men's basketball student-athletes journeyed back to campus in mid-August and began individual work focused on skill improvement.
 
For returning student-athletes Jordan Miller and AJ Wilson, off-season improvement meant embracing the daily grind and challenges of social distancing while putting maximum daily effort into at-home workouts.
 
Miller, who entered the 2019-20 season at 189 pounds, is up to 202 as he enters his junior campaign.
 
"A lot of basketball gyms weren't available during the pandemic, so I realized something I could do was work on my body and work on myself," Miller said. "I made sure I was eating right. I worked out as much as possible and the staff did a great job giving us workouts to do at home. I tried to make the best out of a tough situation."
 
On the court, Miller has done a little bit of everything for the Patriots since his debut midway through the 2018-19 season. After averaging 10.4 points as a freshman, Miller increased that output to 12.2 as a sophomore, more than doubled his assist average and transformed his game to become a higher volume 3-point shooter.
 
"I'm more of an all-around kind of player, so I just want to improve in each area of my game this season, whether it's scoring, rebounding, or coming off of ball screens and attacking more aggressively," Miller said. "I also want to become a better teammate, lifting up the freshmen and helping them get acclimated to college ball."
 
Wilson has gained 13 pounds of muscle after a spring of emphasis on personal growth.
 
"I wanted to stay ready so I didn't have to get ready," Wilson said. "We don't know what's going to happen, so it's a matter of just staying at the best performance level I can be. Whenever we get the ball rolling, I want to be in mid-season form."

After winning the A-10's Most Improved Player Award as a junior, Wilson is striving to make an even bigger impact as a senior.
 
"I want to be the conference's best player. That's my individual goal," Wilson said. "Achieving it isn't going to be easy and there are so many guys in our league working just as hard as me. But I'm ready to work and I know the more I improve, the more it will help us get better as a team."
 
Like Miller, Wilson is looking forward to increasing his leadership role this season. As a fifth-year player, he sees his role similar to that of Kevin Garnett on the 2008 Boston Celtics NBA Championship team.
 
"I'm the older guy and I've been around the block a few times," Wilson said. "I've tried to give the freshmen advice. Malik [Henry] and I have become close and he sees himself filling my shoes when I'm done. I want the freshmen to feel comfortable talking to me and relying on me when they need it. That connection is important."
 
This basketball season may be filled with unknowns, which is why the individual and team work over the next weeks and months is so critical.
 
"This is a weird season and a lot is uncertain, but what we can do now is train as hard as we can and be ready to go whenever things get started," Miller said.
 
In addition, the team's student-athletes want to be leaders on campus and make the decisions necessary to help keep everyone safe and allow the academic year to proceed as best as possible.
 
"We need to lead by example," Wilson said. "You can talk and tweet all you want, but it doesn't matter if you don't practice what you preach. We want to model good behavior on campus and wear our masks wherever we go. If people wear their masks, we can keep everything rolling."