Although George Mason head coach Vanessa Blair-Lewis enjoyed securing the program’s first ever Atlantic 10 Championship a season ago, she has focused in the months since on a path for the Patriots to repeat as champions and go further in the NCAA Tournament.
 
“Believe big” has long been a mantra under the fifth-year Patriots bench boss, but how would the program find that next gear? 

The response was a formulaic one. 

During the offseason, Blair-Lewis and her coaching staff pondered that exact question. For her, it was imperative for the team not to get complacent, an easy trap for a program that has achieved massive success at a historic level. 

So, “believe big” was really just the beginning and instead of responding by stating ‘let’s just do it again,’ which could discount getting the best effort from opposing teams, George Mason took the idea and exponentially grew it.
 
“We decided in that moment instead of just believing bigger or believing big 2.0, we decided that we wanted exponential growth,” she revealed. “What that looks like in math is when you square something. We decided we would be believing big squared this season. That we’ll do the work inside the parenthesis as math suggests first, and we’ve done that. We believe big first, and now we’re going to square ourselves. We're going to put believe on top of believe and big on top of big and Za on top of Za and Kennedy Harris on top of Kennedy Harris and we’re going to square ourselves. We’re going to believe big squared.” 

Here is a look at the Patriots: 
Coach- Vanessa Blair-Lewis - 5th season 

Last year- George Mason went 27-6 overall and 14-4 in A-10 play. The 27 wins marked a program record, while the 14 triumphs in conference contests match a program-best from the 2023-24 season. The Patriots won each of their first six contests and 11 of 12 to kick off the season. George Mason started conference play 2-2 but won 11 consecutive contests to set the stage for the conference championship. The team would earn a double bye, besting all three of its Atlantic 10 Championship opponents by double digits, including Saint Joseph’s in the championship game to earn the program's first ever conference title and NCAA Tournament berth. 

They’ll miss- Paula Suarez (12.3 ppg/44.7% FG/41.3% 3’s/82.1% FT/142 assts/51 stls), Nalani Kaysia (7.5 ppg/9.7 rpg/37 blks), Ta’Viyanna Habib (6.5 ppg/40.4% FG)
 
Impact returners- Zahirah Walton (14.8 ppg/5.8 rpg/42.9% FG/56 stls), Kennedy Harris (13.9 ppg/41.6% FG), Louis Volker (5.6 ppg/42.6% FG/82.6% FT) 

Newcomers of note- MJ Johnson (4.8 ppg at Ball State), Hawa Komara (7.2 ppg/6.3 rpg at Rhode Island) 

Reasons to be optimistic: Optimism starts with returners Zahirah Walton and Kennedy Harris. Both have achieved a lot in their first two seasons - growth and increased playing time is expected from each this time around. 

Blair-Lewis made it clear that the next jump will be seeing both challenged to lead vocally. With six freshmen and two transfers arriving, this Patriots team has plenty of different wrinkles and both players have embraced the fact that it is their team and their time and using their voices will provide even more value. 

Walton did learn quite a bit from last season’s success, and she looks forward to applying it both personally as well as for her team. 

“I'd say I learned what it takes to win a championship, just taking those little things like hard work, getting used to getting knocked down and getting back up, going through ups and downs, I feel like I learned relentlessness so I’ll take that into this season for sure,” determined Walton. 

X Factor- George Mason brought in a couple of transfer pieces that Blair-Lewis feels can be counted on in MJ Johnson and Hawa Komara. 

Johnson had the opportunity to take on a role with Ball State a season ago that saw her play in all 35 games and start once as the Cardinals advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Her experience and pedigree will have a place on this Patriots team which lost Nalani Kaysia, Ta’Viaynna Habib and Nekhu Mitchell. 

“Maliyah as they say is a dog, she can give it to you anyway you want it,” Blair-Lewis observed. “She's lefty, she can get downhill, she can shoot the three, she is aggressive on defense, she doesn’t mind hitting the floor and taking charges, she’s exactly what this team needs.” 

Komara is a known quantity having played in the Atlantic 10 for Rhode Island. Blair-Lewis saw Komara’s fit as important for a style of play which sees George Mason desiring to get up and down the floor. There needed to be a post presence that could fit the bill both offensively and defensively that can rebound, score around the rim, and act as a leader. Komara satisfied all of those needs. 

Circle the date- George Mason has given itself a non-conference slate which could warrant an at-large bid if necessary. ESPN’s Charlie Creme has the Patriots as its last team in the NCAA Tournament field.  

The Patriots have a fierce non-conference schedule facing six NCAA Tournament teams (Florida Gulf Coast, Maryland, Murray State, Ole Miss, Liberty and Princeton) and one WBIT team in James Madison which advanced to the quarterfinals.  

 Bottom line: George Mason is excited to be able to start something anew and believes the team boasts an exciting brand of basketball matched by eight players that joined the roster. The journey to “believing big squared” is well under way. 

“Obviously there are some things we haven’t done yet,” Blair-Lewis said. “We're looking to win a regular season championship and obviously we’d love to win another championship and go back to the NCAA’s. For it’s step by step, day by day. It’s taking the big picture and splitting into bite-sized chunks, so every day we focus on what’s needed today.”