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George Mason University’s women’s basketball team has completed a dramatic four-year transformation, rising from a winless Atlantic 10 campaign to a conference championship and the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance.
Coach Vanessa Blair-Lewis inherited a team that had not won a conference game the season before her arrival. With no recent success to point to, she and her staff had to persuade recruits to believe in a vision that had yet to produce results.
“When you go into someone’s house and say, ‘We want you to come over here,’ and they look and say, ‘Coach, you guys didn’t win a game last year,’ and I’m asking you to believe something that there’s no evidence of … that’s a big challenge,” Blair-Lewis said.
The Patriots approached their breakthrough season with the mantra “running our own race.” Blair-Lewis drew inspiration from Olympic sprinter Noah Lyles, who can trail during much of a race before closing with a powerful finish.
After experiencing tournament rejection the previous year, the team spent the summer concentrating on each stage of its own race, from leaving the starting blocks to finishing strong.
“We spent our whole summer running our race,” Blair-Lewis said, describing the season as a journey from rejection to redemption.
Local Players Fuel the Rise
About 60% of George Mason’s roster comes from Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia. Blair-Lewis, a DMV native who played for her father at Largo High School before attending Mount Saint Mary’s University, saw an opportunity to build around the region’s deep pool of basketball talent.
“We sit in the biggest hotbed of basketball,” she said. “I just figured if I could get this opportunity and be able to pour back into the DMV, which is what we’ve done, I knew we could do something special.”
Support grew alongside the team’s success, with home attendance climbing during Blair-Lewis’ tenure. Fairfax County Executive Bryan Hill, Fairfax City Mayor Catherine Read and other community leaders were among those who attended games.
“A team can only be as successful as a community that supports it,” Blair-Lewis said. “We want to be Northern Virginia’s champion.”
Building for More Than One Season
The transfer portal and Name, Image and Likeness agreements have reshaped college basketball, presenting Blair-Lewis and other coaches with an evolving set of challenges.
“I think it’s such a new landscape that we all are trying to find a way to adjust,” she said.
Blair-Lewis is still working toward lasting success, including by recruiting freshmen instead of relying exclusively on transfers. She also wants players to leave George Mason prepared for responsibilities beyond basketball.
The program emphasizes resilience, confidence and leadership, she said, with the goal of helping players enter any room believing they are capable of succeeding.
George Mason must now replace several important graduates, including Atlantic 10 Most Improved Player Paula Suárez and other major contributors. Blair-Lewis nevertheless remains optimistic that the Patriots’ historic season is the beginning of something larger.
At her introductory press conference four years ago, she asked the George Mason community to “believe big” and promised to hang multiple banners in the gym. She has now delivered on that pledge—and made clear that the program’s race is not over.