Your George Mason Patriots have brought in a shooter in 6’3 wing Makhai Valentine, out of Northern Illinois. Valentine is a rising junior and will have two years of eligibility.
His background was covered in his visit article linked here.
Makhai Valentine By The Numbers
Makhai Valentine averaged 13.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal per game on 57.3% true shooting, which had him shooting 36.5% from three and 52% from two.
Offense
Valentine spent his first season at Missouri State, being hyper-efficient in a very limited role. He shot 47.4% from three (9/19) and 60% from two (6/10).
With that, his career three-point percentage is 36.8%. The 2025-26 average was 33.9%. As I mentioned in the visit article, this guy jacks up threes and they go in. 67.3% of his shots were threes, and he was shooting 12.2 three per 100 possessions. That is right around where Davidson’s Parker Friederichsen and VCU’s Jadrian Tracey were in terms of threes per 100.
If I were to predict Makhai’s three-point percentage this upcoming season, I would have it over 36.8% since I would assume he would not be given the same level of shot and spacing responsibilities. Move the volume slider down a bit, move the efficiency up.
His shooting at the rim is good, 60.7%. A little note is that he was only 6/10 on dunks, which could be a small sample size thing, or a real problem going forward. Something to note but not be concerned about unless he is 2/4 in the first couple games.
The midrange leaves some to be desired, shooting 29.6% (8-27), but I imagine this would be cut mostly out of his game with a smaller, more off-ball role.
The advanced numbers like Valentine, with him having a 2.2 offensive box plus minus on a bad offense.
His biggest weakness is probably playmaking, with a 7.1% assist rate at 6’3. This is what makes him more of a wing than a guard to me.
A somewhat strong part of his game is a free throw rate of 30.5 free throws per 100 shots. That normally isn’t high, but for a guy who takes two thirds of his shots from deep, that is pretty good.
Per CBBShotCharts, with Valentine on the court, Northern Illinois had a 47.8% eFG. With him off, it dropped down to 46.8%. The biggest note there is that the team shot 32.6% from three with him on, and 25.3% with him off.
Defense
Makhai Valentine was not an incredible defender, with a block and steal rate of 0.7% and 1.7%, but that is to be expected of a guy with such responsibility on offense. Also, 1.7% isn’t bad. He only committed 2.3 fouls per 40, with that dropping to 1.7 per 40 in conference play.
The advanced metrics are a little less kind to Makhai on this end. He had a defensive box plus minus of -0.9, which is bad, but nobody on his team had it positive. Everything was so bad that it is difficult to place blame. The defensive infrastructure in Fairfax will be better.
With Valentine on the court, Northern Illinois gave up an eFG% of 56.8%. With him off, it went down to 51.8%. This isn’t good, but I think that is what happens when you have a guy like Makhai overextended as your number one option on offense. The defense is not going to look pretty.
Makhai Valentine Scouting Report (Louisiana Monroe)
I wanted to do the Loyola Chicago game, but the YouTube upload of it was very bad quality.
Offense
Valentine is a great off-ball scorer. He flies around off-ball screens and gets the ball in position to shoot. I don’t think he had the green light yet. This guy is a weapon on baseline out-of-bounds plays and was their go-to-guy in those situations, where he once had a lob thrown to him. I also liked his cutting. You can’t go under screens with him, either on or off the ball.
Makhai’s shot goes up fast. Think of SLU’s Ishan Sharma and his jumpshot. His leg sticks out a little bit and he gets foul calls. I saw three in his first game.
The 6’3 wing is awesome at getting offensive boards. He can get above guys if they don’t realize the rebound is contested. Valentine puts himself in great position as the shot goes up, and will get an amazing read of where the ball is going on the bounce. It’s like watching a gold glove center fielder know where to go as soon as the ball is hit.
There was a flash of rim pressure turning into an open three, where he drove and passed to the opposite corner.
Defense
Valentine did most of his work off the ball, where he was pretty good. Very attentive, follows his man through screens, can have some good dig moments, and won’t leave guys open when there is a scramble for the ball that he won’t get.
The 6’3 wing is active in the passing lanes, but can get himself out of the play because of it. They gave him a couple of weakside rim protection reps, and there was good timing with it. I am not sure that will be applicable.
As with the offensive glass, Valentine is very physical and will fight above his weight class for boards.
Makhai had an on-ball rep on near the top of the three line and got blown past when the driver timed it with his steal attempt. When the ball was in the corner, he did a great job keeping his man in front of him.
Up next, Joe.
Makhai Valentine Scouting Report (Austin Peay)
Thanks Palmer.
Another week, another new Patriot. This time securing more backcourt depth in Makhai Valentine from Northern Illinois. A pure two guard, Valentine seems to be the final piece that will get legs in Mason’s backcourt next season. He’ll join Baraka Okojie, Lillian Marville, Brayden O’Conner and Peyton Miller.
For this scout, I watched Northern Illinois early season game against Wisconsin.
Something that is very noticeable early on is Valentine’s athleticism and bounce. He was tasked with defending Andrew Rohde most of his first half minutes. Rohde is listed at three inches taller than Valentine and Valentine was able to force him to pass back out after driving twice early on in the half. After those two moments, Rohde didn’t try driving to the hoop on Valentine again. Makhai was only at fault for one basket from Wisconsin this half, an open three by Rohde where Valentine cheated to the paint a bit too much. You take that one mistake when he was probably Northern Illinois best defender that half.
The bounce showed off in his attempts to rebound as well. Valentine had a 5.5% offensive rebounding percentage and a 14.7% defensive rebounding percentage from the two spot because of his hops. The man can get up there. An encouraging sign for Mason’s rebounding presence with him on the court.
Offensively, I was surprised NIU didn’t try to use him more. They had Valentine standing in the corner and not handling the ball a ton. Which surprised me because when he had his chances with the ball on the offensive side, he looked pretty good with it. Good dribbling, good acceleration with the ball, decent passing and vision. The three point form looks solid too, but he’s not a player who can just shoot threes I think. He’s got the underlying athleticism and speed to get to the hoop more consistently, but that may be an effort thing on his end.
If Valentine comes off the bench for Mason (which it looks like on paper with Brayden O’Conner officially back), he will be a heck of a lightning bolt of energy. He’s got great jump, he’s an above average shooter and I think the defense is there even if the underlying metrics don’t show it. In terms of players coming in from the portal to bring off your bench, Valentine feels like he’s at the high end level of that. Another strong add this portal season that checks off a need for the Patriots from Tony and co.
Back To Palmer.
Ratings
Shooting: 60 – He would get a 55 for the 36.5% and gets another 5 added on due to the volume. This is a high volume shooter who can fill it up.
Off-Ball Scoring: 60 – Very good running around off-ball screens to set himself up for a catch and shoot. Can shoot while turning mid-air. Also has some cutting.
Passing: 40 – The assist rate is very low, and a turnover rate of 12.2% isn’t too bad.
Driving: 45+ – I don’t see a great driver, but I do like how much he gets fouled.
Finishing: 55 – 60.7% at the rim at 6’3 is very good.
Perimeter Defense: 45 – Don’t see him being a point-of-attack defender, but stick him in the corner and he will keep his man from driving. Had an on-ball rep near the top of the three-point line and got smoked. Gets dinged a little for being 6’3 and needing size around him. I expect this to be more of a 50 or 55 with a lesser offensive workload. He will be very fine if you plop him in the corner.
If this guy is your fourth or fifth defender on the court, you are very happy with it.
Off-Ball Defense: 50 – Good at getting around screens, was afraid the size would be a problem. Is a little too aggressive and takes himself out of some plays.
Rebounding: 60 – Rebounding is one of those skills that for whatever reason, travels with you as you move up competition levels. Valentine had a defensive rebound rate of 14.7% and 5.5% on offense. He has a magnet in his pocket that brings the ball to him on the offensive glass. Those are numbers that line up with what you expect from a bigger wing, like Zach Anderson. This is scaled for him being 6’3, but would be a 55 if you scaled it for him being a wing.
Athleticism: 55 – There are some flashes but you don’t see it on a play-to-play basis. Every once in a while there is a burst where he moves incredibly fast.
Feel: 55 – Good cutting timing plus him making a play where he fell over with the ball and found an outlet gives me confidence he has good feel for the game.
Where Does He Fit In?
His median outcome is probably something similar to Devon Cooper or GW’s Trey Autry, which is awesome to have coming off your bench. If you want to reallyyy dream, his Northern Illinois numbers look decently comparable to Jaiden Glover-Toscano, albeit on a bad team in a worse conference.
Torvik had an out-of-the-box player comparison I liked a lot, GW’s Garrett Johnson. Could this be 6’3 Garrett Johnson? That is not a bad one.
Since Valentine is 6’3, I will combine the guard and wings when looking where he slots in.
Brayden O’Connor and Lilian Marville are the guards (Okojie and Miller being point), and Efeosa Oliogu-Elabor and Malik Presley are the wings.
I would put him next to Lilian Marville for the guards and between Efeosa Oliogu-Elabor and Malik Presley for the wings. That is a player who is very solidly in the rotation. That would put him 7th or 8th.
My starting lineup is Okojie-O’Connor-Efeosa-Adair-Kanga, with Okojie, O’Connor, and Kanga being pretty locked in. The bench is Marcus, Marville, Valentine, Presley, and Pendergrass, with Mendy and Miller probably on the outside looking in for minutes.
Marcus, Marville, and Valentine are pretty interchangeable to me, any could be the sixth man.
Get excited, Mason Nation. This team needed more shooting, and they went and got it.
