Early this afternoon, news broke that Dave Paulsen was fired by Brad Edwards.
Dave Paulsen is out at George Mason after six seasons, sources told ESPN.
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) March 16, 2021
In six years at the helm at Mason, Paulsen posted a 95-91 overall record, with a 47-57 record in A-10 play. Mason finished in 5th place a pair of times, but finished in the play-in game territory just as many times. Even in a down year for the Atlantic 10 this year, when Mason avoided having to play many top-tier teams, the Patriots could only manage a 6th place finish.
But Mason’s postseason, if you can call it that, track record has left a lot to be desired. In six years, George Mason appeared in the Quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament four times. Not only did Mason post an 0-4 record in those games, they had an average margin of defeat of 18.25 points. Not a single one was a single-digit game, and the most recent loss to Davidson was the third-largest margin of defeat EVER in the A-10 Tournament by any team.
Under Paulsen, the Patriots made one single postseason tournament appearance, in 2017 when the reached the CBI. Mason got embarassed on their home floor to Loyola (MD), and no, not the good one that made the Final Four a few years back. The one from the PATRIOT LEAGUE. Mason lost 73-58 in a game they were never hardly in. That was the only 20-win season under Dave Paulsen.
The 2019 season was the year we were all promised was going to be THE year. Dave finally had his guys there, he had the roster he wanted and it had matured and was ready. You could just smell an at-large bid on the horizon. Then Mason lost three straight games to open the season to PENN, AMERICAN, AND GEORGIA SOUTHERN. Season over, three games in. Not to mention another home loss later to Vermont.
The 2020 season looked somewhat promising, as Mason got off the to best start in school history, squeaking out wins over…Navy, Longwood, LIU, JMU and Loyola (MD). Yay? They got pimp smacked by #9 Maryland, but to their credit, did regroup and won the Cayman Islands Classic. Their five game win streak was halted by a complete and utter dismantling at the hands of TCU on the road. They never really recovered from that loss.
And finally this past season, Mason nearly lost on opening night to a Division-II school. They later lost at home to KenPom #246 Norfolk State. As a whole, the team was never competitive with ANY A-10 team at the top of the league (and no, UMass doesn’t count).
Paulsen’s tenue was punctuated by another double-digit loss in the A-10 Quarterfinals. It proved to be the final game with DP behind the wheel.
Here are some Twitter reactions on today’s news:
Easy search: Bring back @CanesHoops' Chris Caputo.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 16, 2021
My short list:
Chris Caputo
Eric Konkol@CoachTonySkinnand make damn sure Lamar Butler gets an assistant interview.
Let me be the search firm, @BradEdwards5
— Petey Pandemic (@peteybuckets) March 16, 2021
By George? Or more like Bye Dave https://t.co/8YshCN9dBi
— 👻 2021 NIT 4 seed (@GhostMcHistory) March 16, 2021
Who would you like to see replace DP? It’s gonna be an eventful offseason in Fairfax as AD Brad Edwards must now hire a new head coach for men’s and women’s basketball.
Anyone have a promo code for search committees? Preferably a 2 for 1 coupon.
— GMU Giant Killer (@GMUGiantKiller) March 16, 2021
