NCAA Basketball: 10 mid-majors to watch for ahead of 2021 offseason

George Mason Patriots

• 2020-21 record: 13-9 overall, 8-6 A-10
• Key returners: Jamal Hartwell (5.4 ppg)
• Key additions: D’Shawn Schwartz (Colorado, 9.3 ppg), Davonte Gaines (Tennessee, 0.7 ppg), DeVon Cooper (Morehead State, 12.5 ppg), Mouhamed Lamine Mbaye (three-star PF)

After a tumultuous six-year era under Dave Paulsen, the Patriots will face a changing of the guard – and, despite a mass exodus, the new dawn appears to be bright.  With former Tennessee assistant Kim English now leading the way, George Mason appears primed to climb out of the middle-of-the-pack in the Atlantic 10 – with a brand new identity.

The 2020-21 season was a bizarre one for the Patriots, who struggled to scrape together a resume of solid wins – but came alive at the end of the year, winning their final four regular-season games – including a crucial victory at VCU – to claim the sixth-seed in the A-10 Tournament.  It marked the third-highest finish in Paulsen’s time at George Mason and a stark improvement over the previous year’s 12th-place finish.

But George Mason’s firing of Paulsen has paved the way for an overwhelming majority of the Patriots’ core group to depart, with nine different players leaving – including a load of double-digit scorers in Jordan Miller, Javon Greene, and Josh Oduru, as well as the reigning A-10 Rookie of the Year in Tyler Kokek.  That seemingly does not bode well for the Patriots, who have now gone a decade since their last NCAA Tournament appearance.

But English has already made an impact in the few weeks he has been at the helm, with his prior assistant coaching stops at Colorado and Tennessee paying off with the additions of two incoming transfers in D’Shawn Schwartz and Davonte Gaines.  But the most critical newcomer may be DeVon Cooper, arguably the deadliest offensive weapon on a Morehead State team that won the Ohio Valley title last season – and should become the Patriots’ go-to guy from the start.

With St. Bonaventure and VCU slated to return a majority of the talent from their crew, George Mason will almost assuredly not have enough to compete in the upper echelons from the get-go – but the Patriots are entering a new era with much optimism and newfound weaponry, and have the firepower to be a thorn in the sides of multiple A-10 teams this season.