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Let’s Speculate! Potential George Mason head basketball coach candidates

Welcome to Let’s Speculate! on Coaches Database, where we go through programs that are or may soon be looking for a new head coach and speculate who they may hire next.

Today’s program is George Mason, coached by Dave Paulsen for the last six seasons (fired on March 16).

  • Mike Jones – Radford head coach
    • Jones has built a nice program at Radford, going to the NCAA Tournament back in 2018 and sharing in two of the last three Big South titles. He is right there in the DMV, where he has spent the majority of his career as a coach and player (Howard grad). An A-10 job would definitely be an upgrade in terms of status and paycheck for Jones and presents an opportunity to take his career up to the next level while still tapping his familiar local ties.
  • Chris Caputo – Miami (FL) associate head coach
    • Someone who has worked under Jim Larrañaga for two decades now, both at George Mason and now at Miami (FL). Working his way up from video coordinator to assistant coach, Caputo was there when the Patriots made their Final Four run in 2006. If AD Brad Edwards is looking to re-connect with that era of George Mason basketball, Caputo is the clear and obvious choice.
  • Tony Skinn – Seton Hall assistant coach
    • The only George Mason graduate on this list, Skinn played for the Patriots under Jim Larrañaga and was a senior on the 2006 Final Four team. Played overseas for a bit before getting into coaching, first at the AAU level. After a stint at Louisiana Tech, he’s back on the East Coast coaching under Kevin Willard at Seton Hall. What he lacks in coaching experience he makes up for in local and school ties, which is enough to make him an enticing option.
  • Jason Williford – Virginia associate head coach
    • Former Virginia player now coaching at his alma mater, Williford would bring National Championship experience to Mason as a key member of the 2018-19 Cavaliers squad that won it all. Before returning to Charlottesville in 2009, he coached at both American and Boston University. He’s making good money as second-in-command at UVA, but without the status of being head coach.
  • Kim English – Tennessee assistant coach
    • One of the hottest assistant names across college basketball, English is a Maryland-native and currently works at Tennessee under one-time GMU head coach Rick Barnes. He doesn’t have any head coaching experience but he’s been a D-I assistant since 2015 and he could be an exciting young hire to re-invigorate this program.
  • Karl Hobbs – Rutgers associate head coach
    • Hobbs spent ten years as the head coach at George Washington, reaching the NCAA Tournament three times and finishing with a 166-129 record overall. Outside of that, he spent 12 years at UConn and has been Steve Pikiell‘s associate head coach at Rutgers since 2016. Definitely deserving of another head coaching opportunity and his stock is rising, as he is headed back to the NCAA Tournament this year with the Scarlet Knights.
  • John Becker – Vermont head coach
    • Becker has a pretty sweet set-up at Vermont: he wins a lot of games, goes to the postseason every year, regularly wins the America East title and has a long and lucrative contract by mid-major standards. But at the same time, he is still coaching in the AEast and there is plenty more to conquer in the college basketball world. Maybe he is waiting for something even bigger, but moving up to the A-10 and landing firmly in the fertile recruiting grounds of the DC area could be really enticing.
  • Kevin Broadus – Morgan State head coach
    • His time at Binghamton ended in controversy and lawsuits, but Broadus has re-established his career over the last decade and now has a solid program running at Morgan State. A DC-native, Broadus has spent his entire coaching career in the DMV and has deep recruiting ties across the area. This year’s squad nearly made the NCAA Tournament after finishing in 11th the year before Broadus was hired to turn things around.