2009 Senior Highlight Video (HD)

Video credit: http://www.youtube.com/user/MasonBasketball

Highlights from the 2008-09 season

Patriots to play at GW

This match-up had been mentioned here before, but now there's more confirmation that the Patriots will play at local rival George Washington for the first time since 1998. Post from the GW Hatchet blog:

"Director of Athletics Jack Kvancz confirmed Monday that George Mason’s men’s basketball team will play at GW this upcoming season.

The pairing seems to many to be a natural fit, with the schools not only located close to one another, but also playing in two of college basketball’s best leagues outside of the BCS power conferences. It will be the first time the teams have met since GW bested the Patriots in the 1998 Red Auerbach Colonial Classic at Smith Center."

Hopefully this a start to more local area scheduling, Georgetown and Maryland can't duck us forever can they? Can they?

Wright YouTubes

Some YouTube videos of Sherrod Wright in action, looks a lot like Cam Long in some parts:

(#23 in White)


(#23 in Maroon)

Why Wright chose Mason

Some quotes from Sherrod yesterday:

"I went down there for a visit a few weeks ago and I knew it was a good fit for me," Wright said. "I didn't know too much about the school. I knew it had been in the Final Four a few years ago, but I learned it had everything I wanted."

"I had a lot of schools come after me late because they knew I was still out there," Wright said. "Those schools probably didn't get the first guy they wanted. I didn't want to be a second choice."

My personal favorite line:

"The big schools is where you get noticed," Wright said. "But the tournament is where you get known."

Sherrod Wright commits to George Mason

Mason got it's man in the late signing period. A rare catch late on the recruiting trails for a mid-major team:

"Sherrod Wright verbally committed to George Mason on Friday, according to a source with firsthand knowledge.

The 6-foot-4 senior wing picked that school over Central Florida, Kansas State and South Carolina."

Wright is arguably the highest rated recruit ever to come to Mason if you look at what the recruiting sites have noted about him. Ranked by scout.com as the #35 SG in the nation (#32 by ESPN), Wright could have an immediate impact for the Patriots next season. Kudos to Chris Caputo and entire the coaching staff as this is a huge pickup for the program.

Here are some write-ups about a bunch of his games.

Wright to choose on Friday

Yesterday was the first day of the late signing period and some schools received commitments. The only guy the Patriots are really targeting, Sherrod Wright, has stated he will make his decision by this Friday (the article has some mispelling but it's legit apparently). In the running for his services with the Patriots are UCF and Kansas State, it appears South Carolina is no longer interested.

In other news, VCU has added former Larranaga assistant Bill Courtney to their coaching staff. Smartest move they have made this off-season.

Coach L: Only you can prevent damaged library books!

Head coach Jim Larranaga's instructional videos go beyond the scope of defensive basketball schemes:

Freshmen Bennett and Whack share their thoughts

Incoming freshmen Paris Bennett and Rashad Whack played against each other in the Capital Classic last week and shared some comments about playing in Fairfax with Insidenova.com. The article mentions that Whack reminds many of John Vaughan, which I have heard from others as well. Let's hope he can one day defend as well as JV did. Paris on the other hand reminds me a little of Louis Birdsong, talented in many areas but not great at any one of them. He could challenge Birdsong for some minutes at the small forward position if he plays defense well enough.