NCAA Basketball: Georgetown and George Mason generating excitement in the DMV

Georgetown and George Mason are generating excitement for NCAA Basketball in the Nation’s Capital in different ways this upcoming season.

The Washington DC area, affectionately known as the DMV, is a hot bed for basketball from the high school level all the way to the NBA. There’s not a place in America that likes a winner more than the DMV.

The problem is, the area hasn’t had a winner in college basketball since the University of Maryland cut down the nets in 2002. With the Washington Wizards in the NBA’s purgatory of being good enough to make the playoffs but not good enough to make a legitimate run, the basketball love in the area is here for the taking.

Two schools in the area have taken steps forward in building sustainable programs. Georgetown’s Patrick Ewing and George Mason’s Dave Paulsen are putting their programs in a position to win the hearts the hoops fans in the DMV.

On the Hilltop, the Hoyas are generating excitement with their incoming freshman class led by Mac McClung.  The much hyped McClung has been compared to every flashy ball handler from former Hoya, Allen Iverson to Jason “White Chocolate” Williams. McClung gives Georgetown a breath of fresh air as he appeals to the YouTube generation with his basketball mix tapes. This has caught the eyes of a lot of basketball fans in the DMV and it’s the first time the area has felt the Georgetown in a long time.

McClung isn’t the only freshman in the class to get excited over. The Hoyas were able to seal three four-star recruits in Josh LeBlanc, Grayson Carter, and James Akinjo.

The luxury Ewing will have with this group will be the ability to bring them along slowly. Despite losing the versatile, Marcus Derrickson, the Hoyas return four starters led by Jesse Govan. Govan was a double-double machine that slowed down a bit as the season went on. His stretch game might not be as good as Derrickson’s was but the top of the key jumper is dependable and should put defenses on notice. Jamorko Pickett went from “corner jumper” guy to a player that was able to bury you from three and beat you off the dribble.

This year’s bench should help Coach Ewing manage the starters minutes. Jahvon Blair has a year under his belt and made an impact whenever the Hoyas went high screen and roll. Antwan Walker could play a pivotal role in giving Govan much needed rest. Walker will need to gain Ewing’s trust and show he can give consistent effort. The Hoyas also brought in a pair of transfers that should make an immediate impact. Seven footer Omer Yurtseven (NC State) and 6-6 swing man, Greg Malinowski (Williams & Mary).

With Coach Ewing changing the personnel to fit his NBA-based philosophy the Hoyas should be able to improve incrementally. The 2014-2015 season was the last time the Hoyas were able to avoid finishing in the bottom four in the Big East. This year’s team should be able to break the streak and finish near the top half of the conference.

George Mason sits minutes from Washington DC but it can seem like hours with the snarling DMV traffic. This is where Dave Paulsen has rescued a program that looked over its head when it moved to the Atlantic 10. Prior to Paulsen’s arrival, the Patriots were 9-26 in conference play.

Like Ewing, it was important for Paulsen to get in personnel that fits his system and philosophy. Since going 5-13 in his first year at the school, Paulsen has led the Patriots to an 18-18 conference record by changing the culture. No longer are four and five conference win seasons are acceptable. No longer are the Patriot fans questioning the move to one the best mid-major conferences.

This is the first season since joining the Atlantic 10 that George Mason can realistically expect to be in the top 3.

The Patriots return all-world point guard, Otis Livingston II. The second team All-Atlantic 10 selection averaged a career-high 17.3 points, 4.4 assists per game. He was undoubtedly the go to guy at the end of games including a buzzer beater that beat St. Joe’s.

But he wasn’t the King of Buzzer Beaters for the Patriots. That designation would go to Ian Boyd who hit three buzzer beaters last season.

It’s obvious that the Patriots can’t expect to win as many games at the buzzer as last season but they shouldn’t have to with a veteran-laden team. Mason returns all five starters and key bench players in Boyd, Javon Greene, and AJ Wilson. Add, 6-10 UVA transfer, Jarred Reuter and you can see why fans of the Fairfax, VA based school are excited about the prospects of the season.

Where the Patriots will have to improve is on consistent efforts night-in, night-out in the Atlantic 10. Even with teams like Rhode Island and St. Bonaventure losing key players, St. Louis and St. Joe’s are ready to step in to fill the void. Last season, the Patriots finished with flat efforts in two or their last three games. They were blown out at home by Richmond in the final regular season game. The 68-49 loss to St. Joe’s, a team they beat twice on buzzer beaters in the regular, in the Atlantic 10 tournament was disastrous.

The end of last season should serve as motivation to a program that is poised to do big things this season.

The strength behind both programs was hiring the right coach for the school. In Patrick Ewing, Georgetown reached back to their storied past to an imposing figure with NBA coaching experience. In Fairfax, George Mason went with a coach who knew how to build a program in a mid-major conference. Both schools are well on their way to bringing the college basketball excitement back to the DMV.