Q&A With Masonhoops.com

It’s time to turn the page from football to basketball. There’s no better way to do that than with a renewal of the JMU – GMU rivalry. The Dukes haven’t played the Patriots since 2013. As a result, the matchup might not resonate with current students. For longtime fans of JMU hoops though, this is a big one. Mason was a great rival during its time in the CAA and it’s great to have the Patriots back on the schedule. To get ready for the game, our pal Alan Kelly from Masonhoops.com agreed to do this Q&A with us. We were also given the chance to do the same over on his blog. Enjoy the game today everyone.

1) How’s the A-10 working out?

In the long run, the move to the Atlantic 10 will almost certainly
benefit George Mason University and its basketball program. We are
already seeing some benefits in terms of exposure, and while the
basketball team hasn’t won much of anything, Mason has won seven A10
championships in six other sports. It’s easy for outsiders to point to
the disastrous final two seasons of Paul Hewitt’s tenure and say that
Mason wasn’t ready to move up, but reality is more complicated. The
flaws and mistakes that doomed Hewitt’s teams likely would have doomed
them in the CAA as well. But Mason has the facilities, budget, and
institutional support to compete at the A10 level, and with
second-year AD Brad Edwards and rookie coach Dave Paulsen, it seems
that they now have the leadership to succeed as well.

2) How’s the new coach?

Dave Paulsen has been a breath of fresh air for the program and the
fanbase. Transitions are hard, and I think we all know this is going
to be a bumpy season for Mason, but Paulsen has brought new energy and
some much-needed attention to detail and accountability (on the court
and in the classroom). His entire freshman class has been impressive
thus far, and the remaining hold-overs seem to be buying in as well.
It will be a process. Turnovers are down, and ball movement and
assists are vastly improved. There is a defensive plan. But there are
also lengthy lapses where the team fails to score or defend. They’re
still learning how to play a new style of basketball. We’ve seen
incredible highs like beating Ole Miss and Oklahoma State on a neutral
court, but we’ve also had deep lows like the blowout loss at Towson.

3) Does this game against JMU register anymore with fans?

It does, but not as much as it once did. VCU is probably the most
important opponent to Mason fans, dating back even to the end of our
time in the CAA, and GW and Richmond have gained attention now that
they are conference foes. JMU is still an important opponent and
rivalry for alumni who are old enough to remember all of the old
battles in the CAA, but it doesn’t register the same way with current
students as it did when I was an undergrad. The two years off from
playing each other can’t have helped, either.

4) Who should we look out for?

First of all, senior center Shevon Thompson. When he plays well
offensively and earns playing time, he is capable of grabbing 15+
boards on any given night. Last week, Penn didn’t have a single
offensive rebound until the final seven minutes of the second half.
Second, watch out for freshman guard Jaire Grayer, who leads the
Patriots in scoring at 11.7 ppg, including dropping 23 points and 5
treys against Oklahoma State. Mason doesn’t have a lot of offensive
weapons, and their offense is much better when Grayer is on his game.
Third, Mason as a team has struggled to shoot free throws. If they can
get that turned around, it could turn some of the close losses into
wins.

5) Status of Mason football?

The official position seems to be to wait and see. Mason has a lot of
other facilities issues that need to be addressed before they can
really talk about adding new sports. And to their credit, they have
been tackling those renovations. They have built new tennis courts and
a new throwing field (for track and field), in addition to renovating
the locker rooms in EagleBank Arena and some other cleanup tasks. In
the near future, they will be breaking ground on an overhaul of the
baseball stadium, and the next task after that is probably to build
dedicated practice space for men’s and women’s basketball. If Brad
Edwards is successful in fundraising for smaller projects, he can
begin to think about bigger ones like a new basketball arena, or the
startup costs for a football team. But the reality is, the barriers to
entry to high-level college football are very expensive, and it’s not
going to happen anytime soon unless Mason gets their own Kevin Plank
or T. Boone Pickens to contribute $50-100 million to kick off the
project.