Last season ended pretty well as Jim Larranaga sent out a group of primarily underclassmen in his first year in Fairfax.  Some of these guys had Division Two level and some had Mid Major talent.  Most were caught somewhere in between and Larranaga knew he had to find out where the talent was.  He was not going to give up any on the season but he had a vast array of similar players who he needed to find out who was going to step up to the plate.  The biggest problem was finding some size that could hang with the William & Mary’s and ODU’s of the world.  Or of the Colonial, whichever comes first.   Sophomore Kenny Sanders had a solid first season for the Patriots. He is a bit undersized to be a dominant post player but he has the right attitude.  Don’t get me wrong Sanders has the skills to be a fine low post option but at six five he is not exactly the admiral down there eating up space.  He took advantage of the early injury to Junior Jim Nowers and took over one of the post positions next to highly recruited fellow Sophomore Andre Gaddy from Brooklyn.  Sanders is an overachiever in the paint due to his size but uses his big butt and an innate ability to time every rebound.  He is without question the best board guy on the team and yes he can score even if he keeps it inside his dorm room.  He is a leader by example who does not mind pounding his chest when he makes a great play and is not intimidated by anyone.  He sometimes, however, has matchup problems against bigger guys.   He can be great defensively as a 19 board 5 block night against East Carolina can attest.  But, this is a big butt, he can also disappear.  Sanders plays with a chip on his shoulder (he has to) and sometimes he needs a bit of an ‘attitude adjustment.’  He missed a couple of games due to this (everybody on this roster had some ‘disciplinary’ issues it seemed at some point making Larranaga’s coaching all the more incredible).  Speaking of Gaddy, the kid might need to eat a few more pizzas but he can play.  The skinny six ten big man from Brooklyn has amazing potential but has to get less brittle and put some weight on.  He does not play around the basket well as he relies on 15 footers but does not take bad shots.  The biggest thing Gaddy needs is some good home cooking from his Mom (he admits he gets homesick) or maybe to borrow some beef from Sanders especially in the behind.   Maybe the most talented post player to start the year was Rudolph Jones but the undersized junior quickly lost time to the huge group of first year post players Larranaga brought in.   Fellow junior Herb Estes got some minutes last year but is way too small for D-1.  Nowers has some size and will still be in the mix down low primarily due to his board work but Larranaga has brought in a bunch of ‘big’ recruits to fill up space in the paint.  

If Sanders was the soul for the Patriots, the heart was swingman Carlos Yates.  An animated player who loves to play, Yates is a tough matchup for anyone because of his ability to shoot from outside and to take it to the hoop.  He led the team in scoring as he uses his six five frame to post up smaller guards and can run the court and finish from the wing.  Yates best attribute may be his attitude.  He brings excitement to the game every night with his enthusiasm and desire to succeed.  Never afraid to take the big shot, Yates came through in the clutch twice with game winning shots and celebrations of biblical proportions.  His game against Navy was prodigious as he scored 35 including an incredible back to the basket flip over the Admiral David Robinson while the big man was fouling him that somehow went in.  Asked how it was so easy that night against the Midshippmen Yates responded “They didn’t make it easy…I just made it look easy.”  The confident Yates is as good as they get going to the hoop and drawing harm and delivering foul shots in quantity and quality.  Yates was a huge ‘get’ for Larranaga as this Virginia kid turned down bigger suitors in Purdue and West Virginia (he did not want to back up Jerry West for two years) to commit to the Mason.  He is a street tough kid who has his demons but loves to play and lights up a room.  He missed a few games with some issues but he is the primary reason the Patriots were able to match up with other teams on the wings.  It is not easy to find guys on the wing his size with his game in this league or any other league for that matter.  He is one heck of a player that should get a shot at the next level if he can get his nose clean which he has done well while in Fairfax and off the streets of DC!  Sophomores Rob Rose and Dave Skagg will compete for the starting three spot.  Both are 6’5 and are the quintessential small forwards.  Rose might have an advantage as he helps out more on the glass but this should be a good competition.  Juniors Ellsworth Lewis and Keith Lewis are also in the mix but are more D-2 level players and do not get up and down the court as well.  Sophomores Andy Bolden, Steve Smith and Brian Miller are in the running to see who will backup Yates.  All three can score with Bolden and Smith being more compete two guards while the 6’4 Miller is a ridiculous shooter who needs to get on the court in this modern three-point era.  He will play after shooing almost 50% from beyond the arc last year on JV. 

Point guard will be the hardest position to fill for the Patriots once again.  A slew of talented players got the chance to impress Larranaga this season but none took hold of the position.  Most talented of this group is Junior Ricky Wilson.  He is a big point guard at six three who can defend and runs the team well.  Wilson does not score much but can when needed but would rather run the team.  He is nowhere near the distributor that some of his teammates are but he gets the ball to the right guy.  Wilson started most of the games last year and has a solid future in Fairfax but needs to improve his passing.   Junior Myron Contae and sophomores John ‘Jack’ Niehoff and Anthony ‘Amp’ Davis are better distributors and quicker than Wilson but nowhere near the overall talent of Wilson.  This trio bounced between JV and backing up on varsity and did well especially Niehoff but none of these guys are going to scare the other team’s defense with their shooting ability. 

All in all last year was a productive season for the team from Fairfax Virginia.  The Patriots of George Mason re not a spectacular bunch and they did not dominate the Colonial but Coach Jim Larranaga is bringing is some solid young players who are learning to work together and they have a good chance to be something someday.  Larranaga showed more than anything that he is a man of principle who will not allow his players to be bad citizens and still play on his team.  His disciplinary moves might have depleted some of his back court talent but he knew he was building a long term program and made sure he had the players who were team first on his roster.  Larranaga can also flat coach as he has taken a group of not highly recruited players and made them a TEAM!