19 years ago Jim Larrañaga put a surprisingly large public school in Northern Virginia, named for a little-known founding father, on the college basketball map. However, since 2006, George Mason has been dining out on an unlikely run to the Final Four while the program became almost as forgettable as the man it's named for.
Now, that March magic might be back in Fairfax with Tony Skinn. After former head coach Kim English spurned the Patriots for Providence, George Mason leaned into its inescapable history, hiring Skinn, one of the stars of Larrañaga’s Cinderella run, and in Year 2 he has the team off to one of its best starts since joining the Atlantic 10.
George Mason made the move to the A10 from the CAA in 2013, two years after its most recent NCAA Tournament appearance, and has only posted three winning seasons in conference play since. However, after a 75-62 road win over the St. Bonaventure Fighting Woj Bombs on Tuesday night, the Patriots are atop the A10 standings at 15-5 (6-1). It was the program’s first win at St. Bonaventure since 2004 and came on the heels of last week’s 67-59 road win over Dayton, ending the Flyer’s 26-game home winning streak.
Aside from losses to Marquette and Duke, two top-10 teams, the Patriot's other three losses have come by a combined 4 points, including a two-overtime loss on the road at East Carolina. While they may not have the offensive firepower to hang with the best teams in the country, Skinn can drag almost any other opponent into the mud with him and that will make George Mason a disastrous first-round matchup if they can get back to the Big Dance. But that’s the first question for this and all Cinderella candidates.
Can George Mason punch its ticket?
Like Skinn, who led the ‘06 team in steals, his team’s identity is on the defensive end of the floor. Through Tuesday, January 21, the Patriots rank 73rd in Kenpom and 21st in defensive rating. They have yet to allow a team to shoot over 50% from the field in any game, including losses to Marquette and Duke, are 13th in the country in opponent points per game, allowing 62.6, and are holding opponents to 36.6% from the field, fourth best in the country. If you can’t get easy buckets in transition, George Mason is a nightmare for half-court offenses.
VCU is the only team in the A10 that’s superior to George Mason defensively (37th in Kenpom, 15th defensive rating), and at 5-1, the Rams, like the Patriots, have begun to separate themselves from the rest of the pack. VCU, Dayton, Saint Louis, and George Mason appear to be the top four teams in the conference, one that has sent two teams to four of the past five NCAA Tournaments. It’ll likely be a two-bid league again, but Mason’s best path to the big dance is to secure that automatic bid, and that starts by getting the double-bye that comes with a top-four seed.
The Patriot’s two toughest tests remaining are road trips to Saint Louis (February 11) and VCU (February 22), a game that could be first to 50.
Skinn’s rotation is nine deep with versatile and scrappy on-ball defenders around two bigs, Jalen Haynes and Giovanni Emejuru, who are versatile enough to share the floor, but their minutes are mostly staggered. While Virginia Tech transfer Darius Maddox, in his second year with the program, is the team’s leading scorer, Haynes is the type of offensive hub that enables an offense without a true on-ball creator to function effectively. He’s fourth in the A10 in usage rate (28.7%) and though the 6-foot-8 260-pound senior only plays 23.4 minutes a game, he averages 12.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, and is shooting nearly 60% from the field.
Haynes is a better passer than his 0.9 assists per game would indicate and is the best half-court option for a team that much prefers to attack early in possesions, pushing off turnovers or missed shots. Still, if you find yourself behind the Patriots, they’re liable to waste a few possessions. That doesn’t make it any easy to shoot your way out of the hole, but the lack of a late-game closer could be the Achilles heel for a team hoping to fit back into their old glass slipper.
Why the slipper may not fit for George Mason
While this team adopted Skinn’s toughness and defensive aptitude from his days as a player, it also shares his carelessness with the basketball. Skinn led his Final Four team in turnovers and his 2024-25 team is committing 14.1 of them a game (323rd in the country). The Patriot’s 18.0% turnover rate is also 325th among the 364 teams in the country and the worst in the A10.
Auburn transfer K.D. Johnson, who comes off the bench, but still closes games for Skinn, leads the way committing 2.5 per game with Haynes and starting point guard Brayden O’Connor close behind. Part of the turnover problem can certainly be attributed to Skinn’s desire to push in transition off turnovers that his defense creates, but it’s more about the lack of reliable ball handlers on the roster.
Johnson, not Maddox or Haynes, is the team’s closer in big possessions, and even with SEC athleticism, he can struggle to get good shots off the dribble. In the biggest moments of the Patriots' double-OT win over George Washington on Saturday, Johnson had the ball in his hands, and before he finally fouled out he missed a three to break the tie at the end of regulation. If it weren’t for two missed free throws by GW’s Rafael Castro, George Mason’s current 5-game win streak would’ve been cut short.
George Mason is 1-3 in games decided by one possession (three points or fewer), and if you don’t have a closer in March, you might turn into a pumpkin before you even get to the dance.