George Mason has faced its fair share of adversity early in 2025-26.
After a 27-9 campaign and winning a Co-A10 Regular Season Championship in 2024-25, head coach Tony Skinn lost the majority of his roster to the portal and graduation. That left him and his staff to rebuild this past offseason by bringing an almost entirely new group of transfer talent to Fairfax, Va.
The lone returner who saw more than 4.7 minutes per game, Preseason All-Conference First Team selection Brayden O’Connor, went down
with a foot injury on day one of the season and hasn’t played since.
Both Jermahri “Fatt” Hill, a Ball State transfer, and Northeastern newcomer Masai Troutman, missed multiple games with leg and ankle injuries early this season.
Amid staggering roster changes, tedious injuries and lineup fluctuation, the Patriots haven’t blinked.
Opening the season at 9-0 marked the best start in program history with wins over Winthrop, Ohio, Florida Atlantic, James Madison, and Cornell. Though Virginia Tech eventually put an end to that run, defeating George Mason 73-62 on Dec. 6, the Patriots are 4-0 since, including a comeback road win over La Salle to start Atlantic 10 play.
“We’ve shown so much resilience all season long with different things we’ve had to battle,” Skinn told Mid-Major Madness following the 80-75 comeback win at Glaser Arena. “Different injuries and guys [have had] to step up. And when we have the opportunity to go on the road, a true road game in conference, trailing for 34-35 minutes, and then to find a way. I’m really proud of these guys.”
Particularly with O’Connor missing so much time, players stepping up feels like something of an understatement.
It starts with Presbyterian transfer Kory Mincy, who was on the bench that first game of the season but has quickly worked his way into the starting lineup ever since O’Connor’s injury. Not only has he become the A10’s leading scorer, averaging 18.1 PPG, but he’s one of George Mason’s best playmakers with a team-high 3.4 APG.
As the Patriots pushed back late into the second half against La Salle in the Dec. 31 win, it was Mincy’s 21 points that willed George Mason back from a slow start.
“He’s the leading scorer in our league for a reason,” Skinn said. “A tremendous young man with a tremendous work ethic. His leadership is high level and all those things, when you do that every single day, it snowballs and you build that domino of confidence. He’s our captain.”
Samford transfer Riley Allenspach, too, has improved in a big way and helped redefine the Patriots’ frontcourt.
A season ago, he was averaging just 7.8 PPG, 3.0 RPG and started only twice for the Bulldogs. Now, he’s managing career-highs of 12.7 PPG and 6.4 RPG while starting all 14 games for George Mason early this season.
In addition to recently dropping a career-best 26 points to lead a win over Old Dominion, it was Allenspach keeping the Patriots afloat for much of the first half versus La Salle. He finished with 19 points, and according to Skinn, he has really changed the dynamic of this offense, especially when his shooters are struggling.
“He’s been our anchor down low,” Skinn said. “He’s big, physical, and I can throw the ball inside to him. A third of my playbook is for Riley, and every once in a while, he’s able to step out and help us with our spacing. He’s carried us in many games and [against La Salle] it wasn’t any different.”
However, the most impressive surprise from Wednesday’s win was the emergence of freshman forward Emmanuel Kanga. The former four-star prospect had yet to really stake his claim within Skinn’s rotation but was dominant on the interior to aid the effort against the Explorers.
Kanga added a career-high 17 points, went 7 of 8 from the field, grabbed eight rebounds, and played a pivotal role as George Mason overcame its 11-point deficit.
“He came in as a freshman, and right now he’s playing like an upperclassman,” Skinn said. “His growth and development is only going to help us because of his natural ability at 6-foot-9. He’s a pogo stick out there and his first jump is quick, his second jump is quick, and he’s actually getting better, interior-wise, scoring the basketball.”
It’s a testament to the depth of this group that Skinn and his staff constructed. Between Mincy, Allenspach, Troutman, Hill and Maryland transfer Jahari Long, a healthy George Mason has five double-digit scorers and an offense that ranks 79th nationally.
Further down the rotation, Kanga continues to carve out minutes and Texas transfer Malik Presley is proving a vital veteran role player. Mount St. Mary’s recruit Dola Adebayo started the first 12 games before a foot injury but has worked in the frontcourt alongside former Murray State forward Nick Ellington.
“I’ve said it all year, we’ve got eight or nine starters,” Skinn said. “When you have [Kanga] at the five, Riley at the five and Nick at the five, that position is pretty deep. All three of those guys can give us a little bit of something different.”
Though George Mason shares the A10’s best overall record with Saint Louis, the programs rank just 348th in strength of schedule which is bottom 18 in the country and second worst in conference.
The Patriots may have escaped Philadelphia with a last minute win, but there will undoubtedly be tougher tests on the horizon. Rhode Island awaits this weekend, a visit to Fordham next week, all before a matchup with the A10’s preseason favorite in local-rival VCU.
Still, Skinn is confident his team will continue to step up and meet the challenges ahead, as they’ve done all throughout the early season.
“That trust that I’ve had all season long [never waivers],” he said. There’s no real separation on this team and so nights like this are going to happen, a guy gets in foul trouble. We just need different guys to step up and I think we’ve done that.”
