The George Mason Patriots are the intercollegiate athletic teams representing

George Mason University George Mason University (GMU) is a Public university, public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Located in Northern Virginia near Washington, D.C., the university is named in honor of George Mason, a Founding Father ...

(GMU), located in

Fairfax, Virginia Fairfax ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia and the county seat of Fairfax County, Virginia, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 24,146. Fairfax is pa ...

. The Patriots compete in Division I of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) as members of the

Atlantic 10 Conference The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. The A-10's member schools are located most ...

for most sports.

History

The Patriots began to move from NAIA and

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is the intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment ...

status into the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

ranks with men's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

in the 1978–1979 season. According to the History of George Mason basketball, both the men's and women's basketball program have been fixtures of campus life. Within a few years, all other sports also were elevated to Division I status. George Mason reached its current level of 20 varsity sports with the addition of

women's lacrosse Women's lacrosse (or girls' lacrosse), sometimes shortened to lax, is a field sport played at the international level with two opposing teams of ten players each (12 players per team at the U.S. domestic level). Originally played by indigenous ...

(1993–1994), women's

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically a ...

(1997–1998) and men's and women's

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), ...

(1999–2000). In addition, George Mason has fielded a varsity club football team since 1993 that competes intercollegiately. Their opponents range from other club teams to

NCAA Division I FCS The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Sponsored by the National Collegiate A ...

programs. GMU was a founding member of the CAA but joined the Atlantic 10 in 2013.

Sports sponsored

Men's basketball

While many of the schoolʼs athletic programs have had historical seasons, the men's basketball program remains the flagship sport at the university. The menʼs basketball team has played at the

Patriot Center EagleBank Arena (originally the Patriot Center) is a 10,000-seat arena in the eastern United States, on the campus of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, a suburb southwest of Washington, D.C. Opened in 1985, it is the home of Patriot ...

since 1985 after playing prior seasons in the PE Building on the west side of the Fairfax Campus. The menʼs basketball team has made the NCAA tournament six times (

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, and

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

) and the NIT tournament five times (1986, 2002, 2004, 2009 and 2025). The Patriot basketball team is most famous for its 2006 NCAA run to the Final Four. GMU beat perennial powers

UNC UNC is a three-letter abbreviation that may refer to: Education * University of North Carolina, a multi-campus public university system in the U.S. ** University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a public research university ** PBS North Carolin ...

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, and

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the ...

, as well as a highly ranked

Wichita State Wichita State University (WSU) is a public university, public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 ...

team, before losing to eventual National Champion

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

in the Final Four. The programʼs largest rivals include conference foes

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

and Virginia Commonwealth. New rivalries are forming via George Masonʼs admission to the A-10. The best-known player in Patriots history is

George Evans George Evans may refer to: Arts and entertainment * George "Honey Boy" Evans (1870–1915), American songwriter and entertainer * George Evans (bandleader) (1915–1993), English jazz bandleader, arranger and tenor saxophonist * George Evans (sin ...

, a Gulf War veteran who played from 1997 to 2001 and was a CAA player of year three consecutive seasons. He shares the CAA record with

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

legend

David Robinson David Maurice Robinson (born August 6, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player who played for the San Antonio Spurs in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1989 to 2003, and minority owner of the Spurs. Nicknamed ...

for winning the award three straight times. Other Patriot standouts include Andre Gaddy, Carlos Yates,

Kenny Sanders Kenny Sanders is an American former college basketball player for George Mason University. Sanders came to George Mason from McKinley Technical High School in Washington, D.C. He was the Colonial Athletic Association's (CAA) Rookie of the Year in ...

, Curtis McCants, Nate Langley, Robert Dykes, Robert Rose, Jason Miskiri,

Jai Lewis Jai Lamar Lewis (born February 13, 1983) is an American former basketball player. He now works as a behavioral specialist in Parkville, Maryland. College career He grew up in Germany to US Army serving parents and began to play basketball whil ...

, Lamar Butler, Tony Skinn,

Gabe Norwood Gabriel Daniel Viloria Norwood (born February 9, 1985) is a Filipino-American professional basketball player and assistant coach for the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He played college basketball ...

, Folarin Campbell, and Will Thomas.

Men's soccer

Men's soccer was one of the first varsity sports to be offered when the then George Mason College began its athletic program in the late 1960s. Since then, it has become one of the most successful programs among the 22 NCAA Division I sports currently offered. In the 39-year history of George Mason soccer, the program has a record of 377-264-76 for a winning percentage of .579. The Patriots have posted at least 10 victories in 23 of those seasons, including 14 in a row from 1980 to 1993, and they have finished a season nationally ranked nine times (1981, '82, '84, '85, '87, '88, '90, '92 and '96) in the last 24 years. At

George Mason Stadium George Mason Stadium is a 5,000-seat stadium in Fairfax, Virginia on the campus of George Mason University. It serves as the home to George Mason's soccer and lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a ...

, the team's 5,000-seat home field which opened for the 1982 season, the Patriots have a record of 140-61-26 (.674 winning percentage). The men's team has reached the NCAA Men's Division I Soccer Championship eight times (1985, '86, '87, '89, '90, '96,

and

). Notable former players include Joe Addo, Denis Hamlett, Ritchie Kotschau, Bob Lilley, Tamir Linhart, Anthony Noreiga,

John O'Hara John Henry O'Hara (January 31, 1905 – April 11, 1970) was an American writer. He was one of America's most prolific writers of Short story, short stories, credited with helping to invent ''The New Yorker'' magazine short story style.John O'H ...

, Mark Pulisic, Conor Shanosky, John Borrajo, Irad Young, Taylor Washington, and Brent Brockman. George Mason won the A-10 conference championship their first year in the league (2013).

Women's soccer

Women's soccer has been perhaps the most successful program at George Mason University. The Patriots have reached the NCAA Division 1 Women's Soccer Championship twelve times and the College Cup four times (1983, '85, '86, '93), in

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

they reached the final but would lose 4–0 to

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. Under Coach Hank Leung, the Patriots would again reach the final in the 1985 tournament, on Nov. 24, in front of a record-crowd of 4,500 people at George Mason Stadium and millions on national television on an ESPN broadcast, No. 3 George Mason would beat No. 2 North Carolina 2–0 to win the school's first ever National Championship in their history. GMU players Pam Baughman and Betsy Drambour won the ''Most Outstanding Player and Most Outstanding Defensive Player'' awards respectively while another GMU player,

Lisa Gmitter Lisa Joan Pittaro (; born May 22, 1965) is an American former soccer player who played as a forward, making twelve appearances for the United States women's national team. Career Raised in Hamilton Township, Mercer County, New Jersey, Gmitter-P ...

, being the tournament's top scorer with 3 goals.

Swimming and diving

The George Mason Patriots swimming and diving program represents George Mason in the aquatics sports of

and

. The program includes separate men's and women's teams, both of which compete in the Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10). The George Mason swim & dive men's team has won the Atlantic 10 championship once, winning the title in 2020. The George Mason swim & dive women's team has never won an Atlantic 10 championship. The women's team won the

Coastal Athletic Association The Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), formerly the ECAC South Conference and the Colonial Athletic Association, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA' ...

championship in 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001.

Men's school record holders

Records as of Sept. 1, 2023: * 50 Free - Eric Knight * 100 Free - Eric Knight * 200 Free - Eric Knight * 500 Free - Tom Koucheravy * 1000 Free - Tom Koucheravy * 1650 Free - Tom Koucheravy * 100 Back - Logan Eubanks * 200 Back - Ryan Donnelly * 100 Breast - Dylan Peck * 200 Breast - Tyler Lentine * 100 Fly - Alexander Franklin * 200 Fly - Luke DeVore * 200 IM - Dylan Peck * 400 IM - Preston Wolter * 200 Free Relay - 2023 George Mason * 400 Free Relay - 2023 George Mason * 800 Free Relay - 2014 George Mason * 200 Medley Relay - 2020 George Mason * 400 Medley Relay - 2023 George Mason * 1-Meter Dive - Derrick Butts * 3-Meter Dive - Derrick Butts

Women's school record holders

Records as of Sept. 1, 2023: * 50 Free - Ali Tyler * 100 Free - Ali Tyler * 200 Free - Ali Tyler * 500 Free - Caitlin Impink * 1000 Free - Megan Cummins * 1650 Free - Megan Cummins * 100 Back - Ali Tyler * 200 Back - Ali Tyler * 100 Breast - Ashley Danner * 200 Breast - Ashley Danner * 100 Fly - Sydney Fisher * 200 Fly - Lauren Stinnett * 200 IM - Ashley Danner * 400 IM - Ali Tyler * 200 Free Relay - 2023 George Mason * 400 Free Relay - 2023 George Mason * 800 Free Relay - 2022 George Mason * 200 Medley Relay - 2023 George Mason * 400 Medley Relay - 2023 George Mason * 1-Meter Dive - Kristen Meier * 3-Meter Dive - Kristen Meier

Track and field

Notable athletes

Club sports

In addition to its NCAA Division I sports, George Mason fields club teams in the following sports: *

Bowling Bowling is a Throwing sports#Target sports, target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a bowling ball, ball toward Bowling pin, pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). Most references to ''bowling'' are ...

Crew A crew is a body or a group of people who work at a common activity, generally in a structured or hierarchy, hierarchical organization. A location in which a crew works is called a crewyard or a workyard. The word has nautical resonances: the ta ...

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

(club) *

Equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...

Fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...

Field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

(Varsity Club) *

Ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

Lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

(club) *

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

(club) *

Swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

(club) *

Synchronized swimming Synchronized swimming (in British English, synchronised swimming), also known as artistic swimming, is a sport where swimmers perform a synchronized choreographed routine, accompanied by music. The sport is governed internationally by World A ...

Tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

* Trap and skeet *

Ultimate Ultimate or Ultimates may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums *Ultimate (Bryan Adams album), ''Ultimate'' (Bryan Adams album) *Ultimate (Jolin Tsai album), ''Ultimate'' (Jolin Tsai album) *Ultimate (Pet Shop Boys album), ''Ult ...

Underwater hockey Underwater hockey (UWH), also known as Octopush in the United Kingdom, is a globally played limited-contact sport in which two teams compete to manoeuvre a puck across the bottom of a swimming pool into the opposing team's goal by propelling ...

* Men's volleyball *

Inline hockey Inline hockey or roller hockey is a variant of hockey played on a hard, smooth surface, with players using inline skates to move and ice hockey sticks to shoot a hard, plastic puck into their opponent's goal to score points. The sport is a v ...

Championships and titles

National Championships

The Patriots have won 2 NCAA team championships, 23 George Mason student-athletes have claimed 35 individual national championships, and 13 George Mason teams have made more than 117 NCAA postseason appearances since the school opened. Men's *

Indoor Track and Field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

(1): 1996 Women's *

(1): 1985

NCAA Tournament appearances

Men's * Basketball (6),

* Volleyball (4), 1984, 1985, 1988, 2016 * Soccer (11), 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1996, 2006, 2008, 2013 * Baseball (8), 1985, 1988, 1992, 1993, 2004, 2009, 2014, 2023 Women's * Basketball (1), 2025 * Indoor Track and Field (1), 2025 * Soccer * Volleyball (7), 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2002, 2003, 2009

Colonial Athletic Association titles

Mason athletes have captured 280 individual CAA championships, with 47 team CAA titles. Men's * Baseball (2), 1988, 1991–92, * Basketball (4) Regular Season Championships and (4) Conference Tournament Championships * Soccer (5), 1984–85*, 1985–86*, 1986–87, 1989–90, 2008–09 These titles are shared with American University* Track & field (6) * Wrestling (5), 1991–92, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 2000–01 Women's * Cross Country (4) * Soccer (1) * Swimming & Diving (4) * Track & Field (9) (all consecutive from 1990 to 1998) * Volleyball (8), 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2002, 2003, 2009

Atlantic 10 titles

Mason has captured 20 team A-10 championships. Men's * Soccer (2) 2013, 2024* * Baseball (2) 2014, 2023 * Basketball (1) 2025* * Cross Country (1) 2014 * Indoor Track & Field (2) 2017, 2019 * Outdoor Track & Field (4) 2015, 2016, 2019, 2025 Swimming and Diving (1) 2020 Regular Season TitleWomen's * Basketball (1) 2025 * Indoor Track & Field (2) 2014, 2025 * Outdoor Track & Field (4) 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019 * Softball (1) 2023

References

External links

* {{Navboxes , titlestyle = {{CollegePrimaryStyle, George Mason Patriots, color=white , list = {{Atlantic 10 Conference navbox {{Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association navbox {{Mid-American Conference navbox {{Virginia Sports {{WashingtonDCSports