2008–09 George Mason Patriots men's basketball team

The 2008–09 George Mason Patriots men's basketball team began its 43rd season of collegiate play on November 15, 2008, versus the University of Vermont. The players were looking to continue the success from their 2007–2008 season where they won the 2008 Colonial Athletic Association tournament championship game and advanced to the 2008 NCAA men's basketball tournament. The 2008–09 Patriots had a 13–5 regular season record and were runners-up in the 2009 Colonial Athletic Association tournament. The team reached the 2009 National Invitation Tournament, but they lost in overtime to eventual tournament champion Penn State.

2008–09 George Mason Patriots men's basketball
NIT 1st Round, vs. Penn State, L, 77–73 OT
Conference	Colonial Athletic Association
Record	22–11 (13–5 CAA)
Head coach	Jim Larranaga
Assistant coaches	Eric Konkol Chris Caputo Michael Huger
Home arena	Patriot Center
Seasons ← 2007–08 2009–10 →

2008–09 CAA men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
VCU †	14	–	4		.778			24	–	10		.706
George Mason	13	–	5		.722			22	–	11		.667
Old Dominion	12	–	6		.667			25	–	10		.714
Northeastern	12	–	6		.667			19	–	13		.594
Hofstra	11	–	7		.611			21	–	11		.656
Drexel	10	–	8		.556			15	–	14		.517
James Madison	9	–	9		.500			21	–	15		.583
Georgia State	8	–	10		.444			12	–	20		.375
Delaware	6	–	12		.333			13	–	19		.406
William & Mary	5	–	13		.278			10	–	20		.333
Towson	5	–	13		.278			12	–	22		.353
UNC Wilmington	3	–	15		.167			7	–	25		.219
† 2009 CAA tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

Season notes

• On February 2, 2009, it was announced that George Mason would play the Creighton Bluejays on February 21 as part of the annual ESPN Bracket Busters event.
• On January 21, 2009, during a game versus Northeastern University, senior guard John Vaughan suffered a concussion and was carted off the court. He was taken to a local hospital and released later that night. He missed at least 1 week of action.^[1]
• On December 27, 2008, it was announced that sophomore forward Vlad Moldoveanu will be released from his basketball commitment. He enrolled at American University.^[2]
• On December 22, 2008, the George Mason men's basketball team won their 600th game in the history of the program.^[3]

Awards

Second Team All-CAA

• Darryl Monroe
• John Vaughan

Third Team All-CAA

• Cam Long

CAA All-Rookie Team

• Ryan Pearson

CAA All-Defensive Team

• John Vaughan

CAA Player of the Week

• Darryl Monroe – Jan. 12

CAA Rookie of the Week

• Ryan Pearson – Nov. 17
• Ryan Pearson – Dec. 1

Roster

2008–09 George Mason Patriots men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown F 33 Louis Birdsong 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Jr Mount Saint Joseph’s Baltimore, MD G 2 Andre Cornelius 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 172 lb (78 kg) Fr Victory Christian Charlotte, NC F 40 Chris Fleming 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Sr Osbourn Park Manassas, VA F 3 Kevin Foster 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 211 lb (96 kg) Fr Kathleen Lakeland, FL G 5 Brian Henderson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Magruder Gaithersburg, Maryland G 20 Cam Long 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 187 lb (85 kg) So Freedom Palm Bay, FL F 32 Darryl Monroe 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 275 lb (125 kg) RS Sr First Colonial Virginia Beach, VA F 22 Mike Morrison 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 222 lb (101 kg) Fr Lakewood St. Petersburg, FL G 10 Jimmy Nolan 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fr Archbishop McCarthy Plantation, FL F 24 Ryan Pearson 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Fr Christ the King Far Rockaway, NY G 1 Dre Smith 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Lamar Houston, TX G 13 Isaiah Tate 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 214 lb (97 kg) So DeMatha Upper Marlboro, MD F 23 John Vaughn 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 179 lb (81 kg) RS Sr Laurel Laurel, MD	Head coach Jim Larranaga (Providence) Assistant coach(es) Eric Konkol (Wisconsin-Eau Claire) Michael Huger (Bowling Green) Chris Caputo (Westfield) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: 2010-07-27

Stats

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Cam Long	33	33	32.7	.462	.404	.748	4.8	3.2	1.1	.1	11.7
John Vaughan	31	29	32.3	.418	.369	.747	4.5	1.6	.9	.5	10.8
Darryl Monroe	33	33	29.6	.573	.000	.574	7.7	2.1	1.1	.5	10.5
Dre Smith	33	32	28.4	.355	.265	.784	2.8	1.0	.8	.2	8.9
Ryan Pearson	32	1	17.1	.488	.000	.643	3.8	.7	.6	.8	7.0
Louis Birdsong	33	32	22.8	.488	.308	.702	3.5	.6	.8	1.1	6.4
Andre Cornelius	33	3	18.8	.399	.324	.545	1.8	1.3	.5	.1	5.5
Mike Morrison	31	0	10.8	.545	.000	.302	2.5	.3	.1	.7	4.0
Vlad Moldoveanu	7	0	9.9	.353	.375	.500	2.1	.6	.0	.0	2.3
Isaiah Tate	28	0	9.2	.333	.257	.375	1.6	.4	.2	.0	1.9
Jimmy Nolan	6	0	4.0	.375	.333	.000	.3	.5	.0	.0	1.3
Brian Henderson	5	0	2.6	.250	1.000	.000	.4	.2	.0	.0	0.6
Chris Fleming	10	1	6.0	.125	.000	1.000	1.8	.4	.1	.1	0.4

Game log

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 15, 2008* 1:00 pm		at Vermont	W 80–79 OT	1–0	19 – Monroe	17 – Monroe	5 – Cornelius	Patrick Gymnasium (3,266) Burlington, VT
November 17, 2008* 7:00 pm		Brown	W 89–52	2–0	15 – Morrison	8 – Moldoveanu	4 – Cornelius	Patriot Center (5,469) Fairfax, VA
November 20, 2008* 7:00 pm		at Hampton	L 44–50	2–1	15 – Birdsong	11 – Monroe	1 – Tied (4)	Convocation Center (2,147) Hampton, VA
November 22, 2008* 4:30 pm		at East Carolina	W 77–71	3–1	19 – Cornelius	9 – Monroe	6 – Long	Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum (4,781) Greenville, NC
November 25, 2008* 7:00 pm, MASN		Mount St. Mary's	W 72–60	4–1	22 – Vaughan	8 – Birdsong, Monroe	3 – Birdsong, Monroe, Smith	Patriot Center (5,512) Fairfax, VA
November 29, 2008* 4:00 pm		Ohio	W 74–65	5–1	15 – Long, Smith	9 – Monroe	5 – Long	Patriot Center (5,159) Fairfax, VA
December 1, 2008* 7:00 pm, MASN		at Liberty	L 66–69 OT	5–2	18 – Long	13 – Monroe	6 – Vaughan	Vines Center (4,172) Lynchburg, VA
December 6, 2008 4:30 pm, CN8		at Drexel	W 56–55	6–2 (1–0)	9 – Monroe	5 – Monroe	5 – Monroe	Daskalakis Athletic Center (1,406) Philadelphia, PA
December 19, 2008* 7:00 pm, MASN		Radford	W 67–55	7–2	21 – Long	6 – Long	5 – Long	Patriot Center (5,164) Fairfax, VA
December 22, 2008* 7:00 pm		Tulane	W 60–52	8–2	16 – Vaughan	13 – Pearson	5 – Long	Patriot Center (4,508) Fairfax, VA
December 30, 2008* 7:00 pm, MASN		at Dayton	L 62–66	8–3	22 – Smith	7 – Smith	4 – Long	University of Dayton Arena (13,107) Dayton, OH
CAA regular season
January 3, 2009 7:00 pm, MASN		UNC-Wilmington	W 101–60	9–3 (2–0)	20 – Vaughan	8 – Monroe	5 – Long, Vaughan	Patriot Center (8,010) Fairfax, VA
January 5, 2009 5:00 pm, Fios 1		Georgia State	W 58–52	10–3 (3–0)	18 – Long	11 – Monroe	3 – Long	Patriot Center (3,841) Fairfax, VA
January 7, 2009 7:00 pm		at Towson	W 71–59	11–3 (4–0)	16 – Monroe	10 – Monroe	5 – Smith	Towson Center (1,507) Towson, MD
January 10, 2009 2:00 pm, Comcast Sportsnet		Old Dominion	W 61–53	12–3 (5–0)	14 – Monroe	14 – Monroe	5 – Vaughan	Patriot Center (6,626) Fairfax, VA
January 14, 2009 7:00 pm		at William & Mary	W 61–57	13–3 (6–0)	14 – Smith	9 – Monroe	4 – Long	Kaplan Arena (2,283) Williamsburg, VA
January 17, 2009 2:00 pm, CN8		James Madison	W 71–57	14–3 (7–0)	15 – Birdsong	11 – Monroe	4 – Monroe	Patriot Center (8,665) Fairfax, VA
January 21, 2009 7:00 pm, MASN		at Northeastern	L 57–58	14–4 (7–1)	19 – Vaughan	4 – Birdsong, Long, Monroe	3 – Long	Matthews Arena (2,300) Boston
January 24, 2009 4:00 pm, ESPN2		at VCU	L 71–76	14–5 (7–2)	24 – Long	7 – Pearson	4 – Long	Stuart C. Siegel Center (7,594) Richmond, VA
January 27, 2009 7:00 pm, CN8		Delaware	W 78–55	15–5 (8–2)	14 – Morrison, Smith	10 – Long	6 – Long	Patriot Center (4,845) Fairfax, VA
January 31, 2009 7:00 pm, Comcast		at Old Dominion	L 71–73	15–6 (8–3)	18 – Pearson	7 – Vaughan	7 – Monroe	Ted Constant Convocation Center (8,424) Norfolk, VA
February 3, 2009 7:00 pm, ESPNU		Hofstra	W 78–54	16–6 (9–3)	16 – Pearson, Vaughan	7 – Long, Vaughan	4 – Cornelius	Patriot Center (5,067) Fairfax, VA
February 7, 2009 2:00 pm, Comcast		at James Madison	L 66–68	16–7 (9–4)	19 – Vaughan	6 – Birdsong, Long	4 – Monroe	Convocation Center (5,470) Harrisonburg, VA
February 12, 2009 7:00 pm, ESPNU		at Delaware	W 58–6	16–8 (9–5)	27 – Monroe	11 – Monroe	2 – Birdsong, Monroe	Patriot Center (3,062) Fairfax, VA
February 14, 2009 12:00 pm, Comcast		Northeastern Homecoming	W 64–53	17–8 (10–5)	16 – Vaughan	10 – Long	3 – Vaughan	Patriot Center (9,840) Fairfax, VA
February 18, 2009 7:00 pm, Fios 1		Drexel	W 49–48	18–8 (11–5)	15 – Monroe	9 – Monroe	2 – Long	Patriot Center (5,579) Fairfax, VA
February 21, 2009* 9:30 pm, ESPNU		at Creighton ESPN Bracket Busters	L 63–76	18–9	23 – Long	10 – Monroe	6 – Monroe	Qwest Center Omaha (17,411) Omaha, NE
February 25, 2009 7:00 pm, MASN		at UNC-Wilmington	W 53–52	19–9 (12–5)	13 – Smith	11 – Vaughan	4 – Long	Trask Coliseum (3,625) Wilmington, NC
February 28, 2009 8:00 pm, MASN		Towson	W 71–59	20–9 (13–5)	13 – Monroe, Smith	9 – Monroe	2 – Long, Monroe, Vaughan	Patriot Center (9,840) Fairfax, VA
CAA tournament
March 7, 2009 6:00 pm, Comcast	(2)	vs. (7) James Madison Quarterfinals	W 61–53	21–9	12 – Monroe, Long	9 – Birdsong	3 – Vaughan	Richmond Coliseum (N/A) Richmond, VA
March 8, 2009 5:30 pm, Comcast	(2)	vs. (11) Towson Semifinals	W 56–48	22–9	15 – Monroe	9 – Birdsong	5 – Long	Richmond Coliseum (7,925) Richmond, VA
March 9, 2009 7:00 pm, ESPN2	(2)	vs. (1) VCU Championship	L 50–71	22–10	23 – Smith	6 – Long	3 – Long	Richmond Coliseum (11,200) Richmond, VA
National Invitation tournament
March 17, 2009 8:00 pm, ESPNU	(7)	at (2) Penn State First Round, No. 2 vs No. 7	L 73–77 OT	22–11	16 – Long	8 – Morrison	4 – Long	Bryce Jordan Center (5,549) State College, PA
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time[4].

Recruiting

The following is a list of players signed for the 2009–10 season:

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Rashaad Whack SG	Forestville, Maryland	Bishop McNamara	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Sep 6, 2008
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (86)
Paris Bennett SF	Elizabeth, New Jersey	St. Patrick's	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Sep 21, 2008
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (85)
Vertrail Vaughns PG	Mesquite, Texas	Mesquite	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Sep 28, 2008
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (85)
Johnnie Williams PF	Memphis, Tennessee	Briarcrest Christian	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Oct 19, 2008
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (89)
Luke Hancock SF	Chatham, Virginia	Hargrove Military Academy	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Oct 19, 2008
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (86)
Sherrod Wright SG	Mount Vernon, New York	Mount Vernon	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Apr 17, 2009
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (89)
Overall recruit ranking:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "ESPN". ESPN. Retrieved February 9, 2009. "2009 Team Ranking". Rivals. Retrieved February 9, 2009.