GMU All Time Starting 5+1

[GMU79]

@GMU79

Did u graduate GMU in 1979?
if so, did you see any GMU BBall games in 1975 or 1976?
Did they play the games in the RAC?

Yes, I did. They hadn't even cleared the land for the RAC yet. We played in the old old gym at the end of Ring Rd., which later became Patriot Circle...when the "ring" was only half a ring.
I started attending games my freshman year, 1975.

 

[GMU79]

Only saw Jones a few times and can't offer an opinion on him other than his high career average. It was before we were Division 1 and played an independent schedule (no conference affiliation). So level of competition was weak.

Will Thomas and Jai Lewis were more notable than Byron Tucker- both skill- and contribution-wise.

McCants was one of the fastest pgs at Mason but his career overlapped with Westhead's tenure so his assist total would be inflated by that run-and-gun style of play. Thrown off the team for bad behavior (to say the least if the rumors were correct)

Yates is a no-brainer for the starting 5 as is George Evans who was CAA conference player of the year for 3 ,or maybe 4 years! Can't have an all star team without him, AI be damned!

Moore really developed his junior and senior years but I'd have Otis Livingston ahead of him.

Yes, Yates and Evans are musts!
And I would add Kenny Sanders as well.

 

[psyclone]

@GMU79

Did u graduate GMU in 1979?
if so, did you see any GMU BBall games in 1975 or 1976?
Did they play the games in the RAC?

Can't answer for GMU79, but I started teaching full-time at Mason in the fall of '71. Went to a few games those first few years in the PE building (now RAC). Building was new that year, I think. (I've talked to some faculty who preceded me at Mason and they indicated that they saw some Mason games at Woodson HS.) Fold-down bleachers--probably started selling season tickets in the Yates years (put tape on bleachers to mark off each "seat".)
Patriot Center opened in 1985.

 

[GMU79]

Can't answer for GMU79, but I started teaching full-time at Mason in the fall of '71. Went to a few games those first few years in the PE building (now RAC). Building was new that year, I think. (I've talked to some faculty who preceded me at Mason and they indicated that they saw some Mason games at Woodson HS.) Fold-down bleachers--probably started selling season tickets in the Yates years (put tape on bleachers to mark off each "seat".)
Patriot Center opened in 1985.

And these youngsters think I'M old!! So the gym was converted into the RAC? I thought that was across 123. Oh well.
So what did you teach? I had a couple of classes at Woodson myself.

 

[Pablo]

Can't answer for GMU79, but I started teaching full-time at Mason in the fall of '71. Went to a few games those first few years in the PE building (now RAC). Building was new that year, I think. (I've talked to some faculty who preceded me at Mason and they indicated that they saw some Mason games at Woodson HS.) Fold-down bleachers--probably started selling season tickets in the Yates years (put tape on bleachers to mark off each "seat".)
Patriot Center opened in 1985.

In George Mason's first season (1966-67), the team played twice against the Lorton Reformatory inmates - https://gomason.com/news/2017/2/10/mason-marauders-looking-back-at-the-first-mens-basketball-team

"The most memorable games from that first season, though, came against teams from Lorton Reformatory. On Dec. 16, 1966, for their fourth game of the season, the Marauders headed 12 miles south down Route 123 to what is now Laurel Hills, Va., to play inmates from Lorton Reformatory.

Yes, inmates. Operated by the District of Columbia Department of Corrections, Lorton Reformatory was a prison built in 1910.

'We must have been the first college team to ever go play a game at Lorton,' Campen said. 'That was mind-blowing. I remember thinking, "What the hell do we have ourselves into here?'" I had never encountered anything like that in my high school career. You could imagine the things that were said (by the inmates). They were just having a good, ole time at our expense.'

Campen recalls the game being played in a cage separating the court from more than 500 inmates in attendance . The scorebook from that game reads names such as Big Deal, Slim Carrol, Pop Crump, Joe Ball, Mouse Wheeler and Rat Parker. But while those watching made the environment intense, Lorton's players were surprisingly friendly."

"As unforgettable of a game as it was at the prison, the scene was just as interesting when Lorton came to Fairfax to play the Marauders at Woodson High School that February. More than 300 fans packed the stands for the game – many of them cheering for the visiting team.

'I think we had more state troopers than we had fans from George Mason,' Campen says, laughing. 'There were probably a couple hundred family members from Washington, D.C. who came out to see their boyfriends, fathers and uncles play basketball because they had a chance to see them. I think that was the biggest crowd we ever had at a home game and that was all rooting for Lorton."

Mason lost twice to Lorton and finished with a 6-12 record overall that year. Even so, the dozen or so young men on the 1966-67 team at George Mason look back fondly on that first season of men's basketball at George Mason."

 

[phoenix-arizona]

Mason Marauder should be the new mascot. If gmu ever wants to change the team name the George Mason Marauders is a pretty cool option​

 

[GMUgemini]

It’s really hard to compare eras anyway. And I started in the George Evans era with my fandom anyway so it’s hard to know who preceded him. Its especially hard to know how good those players really were who had gaudy stats on bad teams.

But this also depends on it we are running a double post or 4-out offense I think.

Option 1: Double-post

PG Tony Skinn
SG Carlos Yates
SF Luke Hancock
PF: George Evans
C: Will Thomas

Sixth Man: Lamar Butler (pure shooter, good defender)

Option 2: Four-Out

PG Tony Skinn
SG Carlos Yates
Wing: Luke Hancock
Wing: Jordan Miller
C: Josh Oduro (and honestly if we had Jalen Haynes for one more season, I’d put him here instead)

Sixth Man: Cam Long (perfect glue guy in a 4-out. Can play anywhere from 1-3).

 

[Patriotsince81]

Yes, I did. They hadn't even cleared the land for the RAC yet. We played in the old old gym at the end of Ring Rd., which later became Patriot Circle...when the "ring" was only half a ring.
I started attending games my freshman year, 1975.

Very cool. Attended my first game in 74 when I was in middle school. So, our paths have crossed. We no doubt saw each other in the massive crowd of 50 people. LOL.

My favorite memory was in 81 when I won a halftime free throw contest and won a sky box suite at the Cap Center for both a Caps and Bullets game. Those were the days!

 

[Dawgs99]

To me the hardest call is Will Thomas and George Evans. Obviously both Mason legends ( Will is my favorite player of all time) but can they play together? In the 90's and 2000's I'd say yes, but not in the current game. Also any list that doesn't have Cam Long is incorrect. Cam Long was Jared Billups with an offensive game.

 

[gmutom]

Any top 5 list that doesn't include Carlos Yates, Kenny Sanders and George Evans is wrong. Gun to head, here are my top three teams:

First Five
Cam Long
Ricky Wilson
Carlos Yates
Kenny Sanders
George Evans

Second 5
Jason Miskiri
Curtis McCants
Rob Rose
Ryan Pearson
Will Thomas

Third Five
Tony Skinn
Sherrod Wright
Andre Gaddy
Jai Lewis
Robert Dykes

 

[Pablo]

Any top 5 list that doesn't include Carlos Yates, Kenny Sanders and George Evans is wrong. Gun to head, here are my top three teams:

First Five
Cam Long
Ricky Wilson
Carlos Yates
Kenny Sanders
George Evans

Second 5
Jason Miskiri
Curtis McCants
Rob Rose
Ryan Pearson
Will Thomas

Third Five
Tony Skinn
Sherrod Wright
Andre Gaddy
Jai Lewis
Robert Dykes

How about Nate Langley?

 

[Dawgs99]

Good call on Nate Langley.....was an absolute stud. Unfortunately for him he played under Westhead and the team was garbage. He's definitely under appreciated. I remember playing JMU at home and he came out with a huge afro and just dominated the game from start to finish and we pulled the upset. That game was also a sell out if I remember correctly.

 

[gmutom]

How about Nate Langley?

Langley was in my grouping with Miskiri, Long, McCants and Sherrod, and I went with the other four. I honestly would have no problem with any combination of the four.