By Palmer Johnson
After the exodus of players, Mason has many scholarship slots open. Portal targets Darius Maddox from Virginia Tech, Jared Billups from Sienna, and Keyshawn Hall from UNLV are visiting Mason this weekend, all of which would be great additions to the team.
Darius Maddox
Maddox is a 6’4 guard who played three seasons at Virginia Tech and visited Mason this weekend. He will have two years of eligibility because of his COVID year.
George Mason is expected to host Virginia Tech transfer Darius Maddox for an official visit beginning tonight. A 6’4 Guard from Bowie, MD, Maddox played in 20 games last season for the Hokies, starting 19 of them, while averaging 8.5ppg. He has 2 years of eligibility remaining. pic.twitter.com/EdQUrBwAoq
— George Mason Recruiting (@GMURecruiting) April 6, 2023
Darius started 19 out of the 20 games he played in last season for Tech. He averaged 8.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.1 assists on 37.4% from the field and 32.3% from three. Maddox was very impressive from the free throw line, shooting 87.5%, although on low volume. Darius is a career 82.5% free throw shooter, which is very high, especially compared to Mason’s current players.
What is much more impressive is his 2021-22 efficiency. He shot 51.3% from the field and 50.6% from three. If his efficiency at Mason could be somewhere between his 2022 and 2023 rates, Mason Nation would be ecstatic.
Maddox’s value mostly comes on the offensive side of the ball, but he can still hold his own on defense. He will definitely not be a liability.
He is a DMV native, with his hometown being Bowie, Maryland. That can’t hurt his chances of being a Patriot.
Virginia Tech fans will likely remember Maddox for his buzzer beating game-winner against Clemson early in the 2022 ACC Tournament, a tournament they ended up winning as the seven seed.
Let’s hope we get to see Maddox in green and gold soon.
Jared Billups
Billups is a 6’5 guard who played at Siena for two seasons before entering the portal. He will have two seasons of eligibility.
George Mason is hosting Siena transfer Jared Billups today for an unofficial visit. 6’4 guard from Waldorf, MD. Averaged 8.1ppg & 6.6rpg last season. Defensive stopper. pic.twitter.com/Ru8qU0wBJR
— George Mason Recruiting (@GMURecruiting) April 7, 2023
Jared started 30 out of 31 games for Siena, averaging 8.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1 block per game on 33.6% from the field and 26.5% from three. He hit his free throws at a 71.8% rate, which is high enough that he will be able to be in closing lineups.
6.6 rebounds per game actually led the team, even with him being the 10th tallest player. That shows he is willing to do the dirty work.
Billups main strength is his defense. Whoever he is guarding is always in danger of getting pickpocketed, and if he doesn’t steal it, they’re still going to have a tough time getting around him. He had the best defensive rating on his team among players who played major minutes.
Similar to Maddox, his efficiency in the 2021-22 season was much higher than his 2022-23 season. He shot 45.7% from the field in his freshman year, and I think his numbers will be closer to this since he will likely not be a focal point of the offense. If he can take what the defense gives him, he will do well.
Also like Maddox, Billups is a DMV native. His hometown is Waldorf, Maryland, and he went to McDonogh School, a private school in Baltimore.
👀 https://t.co/IFDjTDtxuL pic.twitter.com/S3G13v0HBY
— George Mason Recruiting (@GMURecruiting) April 7, 2023
Looks like a Patriot to me.
Keyshawn Hall
Hall is a 6’8 guard who played a season at UNLV and is visiting Mason this weekend. He will have three years of eligibility.
Busy weekend in Fairfax 💪🏽 https://t.co/qnK2bgGnvC pic.twitter.com/2JUPyvB0vf
— George Mason Recruiting (@GMURecruiting) April 8, 2023
He came off the bench in all 18 games he played as a freshman, averaging 5.4 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 0.4 assists on 47.9% from the field and 50% from three.
While he did shoot his 50% from three on somewhat low volume, shooting 10 for 20, it does show that he can definitely hit it from deep. Teams will have to respect that.
Keyshawn Hall is a BIG man. He’s 6’8, which is already huge for a guard, and weighs 255 pounds. Being that big and having guard skills is crazy. It would be especially crazy in the A-10, where it’s reasonable that he could be a similar height to the other team’s center.
With his size, he will be extremely versatile on offense, and will be able to hold his own against a center in a pinch on defense. If he develops like I expect him to, he is going to be a nightmare for opposing coaches to gameplan for.
Hall doesn’t have any previous ties to the DMV area, but if he is coming out to Mason to visit, he is clearly open to making it his home for the next three years.
Closing Thoughts
I do not know how realistic getting all three of these guys would be, but they all seem like they would be great pieces in what Skinn is building. I would be shocked if none of them were rocking green and gold next season.
