The George Mason University men?s basketball team made a memorable Final Four run last month in the NCAA tournament.
The Patriots had five Maryland residents on the team, including Will Thomas of Baltimore and Jai Lewis of Aberdeen.
Lewis is a senior, and has attracted the attention of pro basketball scouts in Europe, and scouts from the National Football League. Mason will also lose seniors Tony Skinn (Takoma Park) and Lamar Butler (Oxon Hill), but there will be a new Maryland resident on the roster next season.
Louis Birdsong, a standout for Mt. St. Joseph?s this past season, will be a freshman for Mason in 2006-07. Birdsong scored six points on Thursday as a member of the Capital All-Stars in a 120-117 loss to the U.S. All-Stars in the annual Capital Classic at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
Others players in the game included Eric Hayes, who is from Potomac High in Virginia. He will play for Gary Williams at the University of Maryland next season.
Another Maryland connnection for Mason next season will be guard John Vaughn, a former Laurel High standout who missed this past season with a knee injury. As a freshman in 2004-05, Vaughn was an all-rookie pick in the Colonial Athletic Association.
Mason became the first men?s team from the CAA to advance to the Final Four. The Patriots lost in the semifinals to the University of Florida, the eventual national champion.
In its only game against CAA foe Towson this past season, Mason won at home over the Tigers in February. Towson played without leading scorer Gary Neal, who was out with an injury.
Mason struggled in that game, but came away with a win. If Mason would have lost that game to Towson, there is a good chance that the Patriots would not have gained an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.
Birdsong is slated to play at Mason under head coach Jim Larranaga, who attracted the attention of bigger schools after Mason?s Final Four run. One of the Mason assistants is Scott Cherry, who played on a national-title team at the University of North Carolina under head coach Dean Smith.
THE BIRDSONG FILE
Sport: Basketball
School: Mt. St. Joseph?s
Future college: George Mason
Did you know? Birdsong will become the second player from Mt. St. Joseph?s on the George Mason University roster next season, joining Will Thomas … Thomas and the Patriots beat Rudy Gay (Baltimore) and the University of Connecticut in the NCAA tournament.
