Austin Ball Pledges to the Patriots

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George Mason has landed a commitment from Austin Ball. The 6’7 Wing out of the Miller School of Albemarle (Charlottesville) & Team Loaded VA makes his pledge to the Patriots following his official visit this past weekend. Rated as a 3-star prospect, Ball is currently ranked as the 187th player in the 2023 class by the On3 Consensus. He held offers from Richmond, JMU, Coastal Carolina, West Virginia and Virginia Tech among several others, as well as interest from South Carolina and Oklahoma State. Ball becomes George Mason’s first member of the 2023 recruiting class.

  

A native of Man, West Virginia, Ball earned an offer from KE&Co. on June 27th after he exploded during the DMV Live event at DeMatha this summer, averaging 22.5 PPG playing alongside his Miller School teammates (including 2024 target Eli DeLaurier) against the best talent in the area. He is widely regarded as an elite shooter, who has shown plenty of ability to finish high above the rim, while using his length and athleticism to disrupt on the defensive end.

Here is a Scouting Report from On3 Sports’ National Recruiting Analyst Jamie Shaw:

“Austin Ball has excellent positional size with long arms and a lot of pop in his step. At 6-6/6-7, the shooting guard is a dead-eye shooter with deep range and confidence. He gets great lift on his jump shot and shoots it with the same release out to 28, 30 feet. He has excellent footwork moving off the ball and shoots it with consistent balance. Ball is explosive in the paint when attacking closeouts. He can get high on the rim in traffic and punch it on a late rotating big. He needs to add weight and could tighten his handle, but he is efficient off two dribbles. There is more upside to go here as Ball shooting, spacing, and scoring upside are all high-level tools.”

Getting buckets is something that Ball has become accustomed to. As a junior at Man High School, he averaged 20.3 PPG & 7.9 RPG on his way to 1st Team All-State honors while leading Man to the 2021 West Virginia Class A State Championship, their first in program history. After 3 years at Man, Ball made the decision to reclassify to the Class of 2023, and transfer to the Miller School. Coming off the bench last season as part of a very deep rotation for the Mavericks, Austin led the team with 12.5 PPG in just 16 MPG, earning 1st Team All-State honors.

In His Own Words

Austin was gracious enough to give us some insight on his visit, his relationship with the staff, his upcoming senior season, and why has chosen to don the Green & Gold. In addition, his Miller School head coach Jack Meriwether shared some thoughts on what Ball has brought to the Mavericks program, and what George Mason fans can look forward to.

Q: Why George Mason?

Austin Ball: “It has always felt the most comfortable to me, the coaches and players are guys I want to be around, and the style of play is a perfect fit for my game. It is clear to me that everyone here is focused on elevating the program and competing to win the A10 and beyond. The energy amongst the players and coaches was very high in practice and when a team is trying to be great it is easy to recognize. I not only think the program is climbing to greatness, but it is easy to see the part I can play in making that happen.”

Q: In recent interviews you’ve done, you’ve mentioned how consistent the outreach was from the staff this summer. Talk about your relationship with the staff.

Austin Ball: “From our first conversations I could feel a connection and how great the staff really is! They went out of their way to stay in contact and call me daily, not just one coach but the entire staff! I felt like they really wanted me at George Mason and they showed me what a great fit I would be.”

Q: What’s the staff’s message to you? How do they see you succeeding at George Mason?

Austin Ball: “Coach English and the staff have told me that if I trust the process and work daily to be the best version of myself that everything will fall into place!! I trust the staff, they all have experience at the highest levels and have played and coached pro players like I would one day like to be. Coach English has a clear vision of what the future of the program looks like and has made it clear that I am a part of that. I want to be someone who can help George Mason return to the heights it has been to in the past.”

Q: Tell me about your visit. What was your favorite part?

Austin Ball: “I really enjoyed the visit, it couldn’t have went better! My favorite part was when me, the team, and the staff all got together for some really good food. You could just tell the vibes and the bonds between them all was great, I felt I was already a part of the family. It was really great!”

Q: Did anything surprise you or your family?

Austin Ball: “I felt nothing specific surprised us, I kind of had a feeling of how great it was going to be, but little things like the beautiful campus and great facilities were very fascinating!!”

Q: You shared your visit weekend with Dez White (2023 George Mason target). How was that?

Austin Ball: “It was good, got to know Dez and his family, they were great people!”

Q: You’re widely regarded as a really good shooter, what specific area(s) of your game are you looking to improve?

Austin Ball: “I want to be more explosive and a better finisher around the rim. I feel that I can get to my spot and get my shot off, but I want to be better at getting to the basket, making a tough play and getting to the free throw line more often. I would also like to handle the ball better and make the right passes at the right time. Finally, I need to improve my defensive rebounding because I’m able to get more rebounds than I did last season.”

Q: You’ve had an active year. The decision to transfer to Miller. Earning 1st team All State. Going off at DMV Live. Making the switch mid-season from Team Takeover to Team Loaded, etc. Looking back, what did you learn about yourself, and your game?

Austin Ball: “Really enjoyed all of it. It was all a great experience, especially playing the best competition in the country at Miller and on the Nike and Adidas circuits. I learned no one is going to give anything to you for free, it’s up for grabs and you have to go take it for yourself! I felt that with hard work, dedication, and staying focused that the offers and opportunities would be there for me. I’ve been very fortunate to play for some of the best coaches in the country and I’ve done my best to take in everything they’ve been willing to teach me.”

Q: You’ve got a season coming up. What are your expectations for yourself and your team at Miller?

Austin Ball: “I’m looking forward to my senior year and the high expectations that come with it. Our main focus is to execute and play hard. We want to win the state championship. We had a strong year last season but came up just short. We are a close group and I think we can take it home this season.”

Miller School Head Basketball Coach Jack Meriwether

Q: From a coach’s perspective, how would you describe Austin as a member of your program? On and off the court.

Coach Meriwether: “Austin is a guy who brings positive energy everywhere he goes both on and off the court, that is easily his biggest asset to our team. He is incredibly coachable; we have asked him to do a lot of things he had never been asked to do before arriving here and he took that in stride and let us coach him and hold him accountable. I don’t know that there have been many first team all-state players in Virginia who came off of the bench, but Austin did that last season.”

Q: Talk about Austin’s development over the past year. Where have you seen the most growth? What is an underrated aspect of his game?

Coach Meriwether: “Coming from a Single-A high school in West Virginia to the highest level of play in Virginia is a big adjustment and he has made big strides in every part of his game. I think his defensive awareness is the place where he has made the biggest strides and just playing hard at full speed continuously. I think that’s the hardest part of adjusting to college basketball and so we try to challenge our guys to go all out here and hold themselves accountable to playing at their limits, not the speed of the other team. Along those lines, Austin’s most underrated skill is his cutting. He has a fantastic sense of when to cut and setting up his man and then hitting full speed in a hurry. That, and his footwork to get set and shoot the variety of shots we set him up for go hand in hand and sometimes get lost in the highlight plays.”

Q: For Miller to make a run at a State Championship this season, what role will Austin need to play?

Coach Meriwether: “Austin needs to be an aggressive scorer but more importantly needs to know that because he draws a lot of extra attention, he is going to get more opportunities than ever to get assists and make a great cut that gets someone else a wide-open shot. If he can do those things along with defending at a high level and being more aggressive grabbing defensive rebounds, it should be a great season for us.”

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