George Mason Basketball: Patriots go 2 for 3 in past week of recruitment

George Mason Basketball was very busy on the recruiting front last week. What were the results for the Patriots in the 2023 class?

Heading into the start of last week, George Mason Basketball didn’t have any commits in the 2023 recruiting class. But that was set to change, with a trio of targets that announced decisions. They were three-star wing Austin Ball, three-star guard Desmond White, and four-star wing Jace Posey. The Patriots were hoping to get 1-2 commitments to get some momentum heading into the fall.

It didn’t get off to the best start, as Posey was down to just the A-10 program and TCU. Unfortunately for the Patriots, the Houston native elected to stay in-state and play for the Horned Frogs.

The good news for George Mason is that they didn’t have to wait long to find their wing of the future in Austin Ball, a 6’7 sharpshooter from Charlottesville, Virginia. Not only did the program fill a position of need, but they also beat out fellow Atlantic 10 program Richmond, who was the other finalist, for his services.

To break the 1-1 tie was Desmond White, a three-star point guard out of the state of Missouri who made his own decision this past weekend.

https://twitter.com/Dez2White/status/1568685727596290051

It’s another nice pickup for the Patriots, who are in need of a ball-handler or two in the class. Last year’s starter (Xavier Johnson), left the team and the projected starter this season is a 5th-year transfer from Tennessee in Victor Bailey, who has no more eligibility left. White is more of a scorer than a true facilitator but considering that star forward and leading scorer Josh Oduro likely is also gone after this year, the team may need the guard commit to score in the 2023-24 campaign.

That’s now two class of 2023 commits on the roster for George Mason, both of whom have great offensive potential and could easily see roles as freshmen over a year from now. And don’t expect head coach Kim English to be done yet, as the team could use both another ball-handler and maybe a center to round out the class and fill all the potential holes.