Atlantic 10 Basketball: In-depth look at George Mason guard Brayden O' Connor

Why you should know Brayden O'Connor

The junior guard makes his way to Fairfax as a transfer from UMass Lowell. The guard was a big-time recruit coming out of Ontario Canada. Over his high school career, he was one of the best players on the province. O’ Connor has his high school scoring record with 46 points and averaged 25 points per game his senior year. These performances earned him All-Star game nods, and All-City player nods, and his sophomore year was named the Ottawa basketball player of the year.

All of those accolades earned him a scholarship to the America East UMass Lowell River Hawks. His first year with the River Hawks was a year full of ups and downs. He only averaged 4 points per game and played sparingly at points. The guard did get a lot better as the year wore on and ended with him scoring his career-high of 14 points in the America East conference tournament. His sophomore season at Lowell was much better and the guard became a starter where he averaged just under 10 points per game to go along with just under 4 rebounds per game. It was that season that allowed O’Connor the opportunity to transfer up to George Mason.

The guard is due for a breakout season this year. He is a player who is going to stuff a stat sheet and doesn’t have to take a large volume of shots to impact the game. He is a decent three-point shooter and has shot over 40% from the floor in both of his college seasons. The one aspect of his game that doesn’t get talked about enough is his ability to play the lead guard. O’Connor is likely going to play the off-guard position but he can and will handle the ball and will set up the offense. He averaged just over 2 assists per game last year and that number is going to be attainable this season for the guard.  O’Connor has the skill set to have a huge season in coach Skinn’s offense.