# 2020–21 George Mason Patriots men's basketball team

The 2020–21 George Mason Patriots Men's basketball team represented George Mason University during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The season marked the 55th for the program, the sixth under head coach Dave Paulsen, and the eighth as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. The Patriots played their home games at EagleBank Arena in Fairfax, Virginia. The Patriots finished the season 13–9, 8–6 in A-10 play to finish in sixth place. They defeated George Washington in the second round of the A-10 tournament before losing to Davidson in the quarterfinals.
On March 16, 2021, the school fired Paulsen. A week later, the school named Tennessee assistant Kim English the team's new head coach.

## Previous season

The Patriots finished the 2019–20 season 17–15, 5–13 in A-10 play to finish in twelfth place. The A-10 tournament was canceled after the first round due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Goanar Mar | 0 | F | 6’7” | 214 | Junior | Mankato, MN | Transferred to Northern Iowa |
| Justin Kier | 1 | G | 6’4” | 197 | Senior | Grottoes, VA | Transferred to Georgia |
| Jason Douglas-Stanley | 20 | G | 6’2” | 191 | Sophomore | Mount Vernon, NY | Transferred to Manhattan |

### 2020 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| Ronald Polite G | Temple Hills, MD | Oxon Hill High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Tyler Kolek G | Cumberland, RI | St. George's School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Otis Frazier III G | Buckeye, AZ | Mt. Zion Prep | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 207 lb (94 kg) |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Malik Henry F | Longview, TX | Longview High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 211 lb (96 kg) |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, 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.com. "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||
Source

## Honors and awards

Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year
* Tyler Kolek
All Atlantic 10 Third Team
* Jordan Miller
Atlantic 10 All-Defensive Team
* A.J. Wilson
Atlantic 10 Player of the Week
* Josh Oduro - Feb. 22
Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week
* Tyler Kolek - Dec. 28
* Tyler Kolek - Feb. 15
* Tyler Kolek - Mar. 2

## Player statistics

| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| Jordan Miller | 20 | 18 | 32.9 | .463 | .333 | .775 | 6.1 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 15.8 |
| Javon Greene | 22 | 19 | 28.6 | .423 | .375 | .775 | 5.0 | 2.2 | 1.8 | 0.0 | 11.5 |
| Tyler Kolek | 22 | 18 | 30.7 | .399 | .358 | .794 | 3.6 | 2.3 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 10.8 |
| Josh Oduro | 22 | 16 | 23.5 | .508 | .200 | .583 | 6.0 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 10.0 |
| A.J. Wilson | 21 | 20 | 22.9 | .397 | .238 | .500 | 5.0 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 2.1 | 7.8 |
| Jamal Hartwell II | 22 | 9 | 18.3 | .383 | .368 | .889 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 5.4 |
| Xavier Johnson | 21 | 9 | 19.0 | .323 | .250 | .613 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 3.3 |
| Ronald Polite | 19 | 0 | 12.8 | .293 | .136 | .536 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 2.4 |
| Bahaïde Haïdara | 22 | 0 | 8.7 | .556 | .000 | .188 | 2.9 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 2.4 |
| Malik Henry | 8 | 0 | 3.6 | .667 | .000 | .467 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 2.4 |
| Otis Frazier III | 15 | 0 | 7.7 | .382 | .313 | .500 | 1.6 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 2.2 |
| Greg Calixte | 19 | 1 | 8.2 | .600 | .000 | .231 | 1.9 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 2.5 |
| Chance Konnor | 2 | 0 | 2.5 | 1.000 | .000 | .000 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
| Jack Tempchin | 5 | 0 | 2.4 | .000 | .000 | .667 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.4 |
| Mehki McCray | 5 | 0 | 1.8 | 1.000 | .000 | .000 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 |
| Jake Nichols | 2 | 0 | 1.0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Lysander Rehnstrom | 2 | 0 | 1.5 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 26, 2020* 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | vs. Queens (NC) DC Paradise Jam | W 66–65 | 1–0 | 19 – Greene | 4 – Miller | 2 – Tied (4) | Washington Convention Center (0) Washington, DC |
| November 27, 2020* 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | vs. Belmont DC Paradise Jam | L 67–77 | 1–1 | 19 – Miller | 9 – Miller | 4 – Johnson | Washington Convention Center (0) Washington, DC |
| November 28, 2020* 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | vs. Howard DC Paradise Jam | W 84–70 | 2–1 | 30 – Miller | 8 – Miller | 9 – Hartwell II | Washington Convention Center (0) Washington, DC |
| December 21, 2020* 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | VMI | W 68–66 | 3–1 | 22 – Wilson | 10 – Wilson | 5 – Johnson | EagleBank Arena (197) Fairfax, VA |
| December 23, 2020* 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Towson | W 70–65 | 4–1 | 19 – Oduro | 8 – Oduro | 3 – Haidara, Johnson | EagleBank Arena (193) Fairfax, VA |
| December 26, 2020* 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Norfolk State | L 65–68 | 4–2 | 19 – Kolek | 9 – Haidara, Oduro | 4 – Kolek, Miller | EagleBank Arena (202) Fairfax, VA |
| A-10 regular season |||||||||
| December 30, 2020 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Massachusetts | W 93–92 $^{2OT}$ | 5–2 (1–0) | 26 – Miller | 8 – Miller | 5 – Miller | Mullins Center (0) Amherst, MA |
| January 2, 2021 4:30 pm, NBCSN | | at Dayton | L 64–75 | 5–3 (1–1) | 16 – Kolek | 7 – Oduro | 3 – Johnson, Kolek, Polite | UD Arena (0) Dayton, OH |
| January 6, 2021 7:00 pm, MASN | | VCU Rivalry | L 61–66 | 5–4 (1–2) | 13 – Oduro | 9 – Oduro | 3 – Johnson | EagleBank Arena (250) Fairfax, VA |
| January 9, 2021 12:00 pm, CBSSN | | Richmond | L 55–77 | 5–5 (1–3) | 16 – Wilson | 7 – Greene | 3 – Miller | EagleBank Arena (250) Fairfax, VA |
| January 13, 2021 7:00 pm | | La Salle | W 75–42 | 6–5 (2–3) | 18 – Greene | 12 – Wilson | 4 – Oduro | EagleBank Arena (250) Fairfax, VA |
| January 16, 2021 2:00 pm, NBCSN | | at Rhode Island | L 60–80 | 6–6 (2–4) | 22 – Miller | 9 – Greene | 3 – Greene | Ryan Center (0) Kingston, RI |
| January 20, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Saint Joseph's | W 87–85 $^{2OT}$ | 7–6 (3–4) | 25 – Greene | 13 – Oduro | 2 – Tied (4) | EagleBank Arena (180) Fairfax, VA |
| January 23, 2021 12:30 pm, NBCSN | | at Saint Joseph's | W 71–62 | 8–6 (4–4) | 18 – Miller | 8 – Greene | 4 – Greene, Haidara | Hagan Arena (0) Philadelphia, PA |
| January 27, 2021 7:00 pm, MASN2 | | George Washington | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | EagleBank Arena (–) Fairfax, VA |
| January 30, 2021 2:00 pm, CBSSN | | at St. Bonaventure | L 67–84 | 8–7 (4–5) | 19 – Miller | 6 – Wilson | 6 – Greene | Reilly Center (0) Olean, NY |
| February 2, 2021 6:00 pm | | at Richmond | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Robins Center (–) Richmond, VA |
| February 5, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at Dayton | L 65–74 | 8–8 (4–6) | 16 – Miller | 9 – Wilson | 3 – Kolek | UD Arena (0) Dayton, OH |
| February 10, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Fordham | W 77–45 | 9–8 (5–6) | 16 – Miller | 6 – Oduro | 4 – Miller, Oduro | EagleBank Arena (190) Fairfax, VA |
| February 13, 2021 7:00 pm, MASN | | Duquesne | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | EagleBank Arena (–) Fairfax, VA |
| February 20, 2021 2:30 pm, NBCSN | | at VCU Rivalry | W 79–76 $^{OT}$ | 10–8 (6–6) | 27 – Oduro | 9 – Miller | 4 – Greene | Siegel Center (250) Richmond, VA |
| February 24, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | George Washington | W 63–58 | 11–8 (7–6) | 16 – Kolek | 15 – Miller | 4 – Kolek | EagleBank Arena (250) Fairfax, VA |
| February 27, 2021 4:30 pm, NBCSN | | La Salle | W 89–54 | 12–8 (8–6) | 16 – Wilson | 6 – Wilson | 5 – Miller, Polite | EagleBank Arena (250) Fairfax, VA |
| A-10 tournament |||||||||
| March 4, 2021 5:30 pm, NBCSN | (6) | vs. (11) George Washington Second round | W 73–59 | 13–8 | 19 – Miller | 10 – Miller | 3 – Greene | Robins Center (250) Richmond, VA |
| March 5, 2021 5:30 pm, NBCSN | (6) | vs. (3) Davidson Quarterfinals | L 67–99 | 13–9 | 15 – Miller | 4 – Frazier III, Miller, Oduro | 3 – Oduro | Robins Center (250) Richmond, VA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. |||||||||
Source