The Tony Skinn era is underway in Fairfax with the George Mason Patriots Men’s Basketball team picking up a 64-52 victory over NAIA powerhouse St. Thomas (Fla.) on Monday night inside EagleBank Arena. 

These patriots are not the same ones we saw under previous head coach Kim English or Dave Paulsen. Tony’s team is athletic, fast, gets out and runs and plays with a high tempo. 

The roster consists of a lot of new faces, Skinn and his coaching staff had to rebuild almost the entire roster after many former players departed along with previous head coach Kim English.

Among those new faces are freshman 6’ 3” point guard Baraka Okojie. Okojie hailing from Brampton, Ontario by way of Daytona Beach DME Academy shinned in his first game rocking the Green and Gold. Baraka went 4-5 with 12 points, three rebounds and added two assists. 

Two other Patriots reached double figures, led by senior newcomer Darius Maddox. The Bowie, Md., product had a team high 13 points to go along with four rebounds and two assists. Returning senior Ronald Polite III chipped in 11 points and made 3-of-4 3-point attempts.

Tony emphasized in his press conference that “I scheduled this game for a reason, because I wanted to put our guys out in this environment, our group of brand-new guys needed to be challenged, “ Head coach Tony Skinn (‘06) said. “St. Thomas has a tradition of very good players. I think, overall, this was a great effort by our team.”

As many of you may remember Tony Skinn was a key member of the famous 2006 George Mason Final Four team. Skinn returns to his alma mater after nearly a decade of collegiate coaching. Skinn made stops at Louisiana Tech, Seton Hall, Ohio State and at Maryland. 

Skinn most recently served on Kevin Willard’s staff at the University of Maryland. During the 2022-23 season, he helped lead the Terps to a 22-13 record and an NCAA Tournament victory over West Virginia. 

 A native of Hyattsville, Md. and Washington, D.C., Skinn returns home hoping to bring that ‘FUNFAX’ vibe back to the DMV. ‘FUNFAX’ was a term coined by students during his playing days.

While there are still many questions left to as how this year’s team will come together, three things were on full display Monday night. Depth, athleticism, and joy. These Patriots play with passion and they hope to carry Monday nights success over to Friday night. The patriots will face off in an exhibition at Big 12 foe West Virginia. The 7 p.m. contest in Morgantown will be broadcast on ESPN+.