The Ryan Pearson Montage

Apparently Ryan Pearson is more of an internet sensation than was once thought. I discovered this YouTube that is a collection of his highlights and it's 9 minutes long! I think the best thing to take away from this montage of Pearson is that he can run and get involved in fast breaks, much like Birdsong. What can also be seen in this video is his array of low post moves, which are sloppy at times but is not something that can't be developed while at Mason. Pearson definitely has athleticism for someone his size and seems to handle the ball well.

Ryan Pearson can throw it down

DunkTV, whatever that is, has named this dunk by future Mason freshman Ryan Pearson their "Dunk of the Year". Pearson, who was called for a charge on this play, looks like a man among children when he throws down the dunk. You gotta like the way this kid moves down the court and I really hope it doesn't take him too long to be pulling off moves like that for the Patriots next season.

Former Citadel player walks on

Interestingly enough this seems to be first reported on the Washington Post, but Mason has picked up a walk on player who formerly committed to The Citadel. His name is Brian Henderson (#5 in the pictures), and the 6-4 guard and likely practice reserve player falls into the "recruited walk-on" category, where Coach L had him on his radar for awhile but was unable to give him a scholarship, although the Post is reporting that he may have in fact received one. Former Patriot Tim Burns fell under this category while at Mason. Henderson is a native of Maryland and played his high school ball at Magruder High School in Rockville, Maryland.

Never hurts to have a tall guard on your practice squad and he could provide a lot of wisdom to the talented younger guards of the current Mason squad. From what I have found on rivals.com Henderson is a versatile player who plays excellent defense and has decent shooting range. He has played multiple positions in his career which could really help him possibly get some playing time down the road.

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Update 5/7/08:

Maryland newsite gazette.net has a story on Henderson and confirms that he indeed is a walk-on.

Why Larranaga stayed in Fairfax

Some might have called Coach Larranaga crazy when he turned down the Providence job but this article and interview from the Mason Gazette puts it in perspective for all those naysayers. Great work by the Gazette, it's refreshing to actually get some useful information about Mason basketball from them.