Good morning! Need to start your week with some oomph? How about re-living some of the greatest moments and athletes that have come through Fairfax? Because that’s exactly how we’ll be kicking off each week for the rest of the summer!

We’ve got that and much more in today’s edition of the Brew!

🏀 Patriot Pressure On The Rise
🌠 First Edition: Mason Memory Mondays
⭐️ Mondays with Marvin
​⭐ And much, much more!

📈 STOCK UP

🔼 Patriot Pressure. Coach Skinn is ready to turn up the pressure on Mason’s opponents in 2023-2024.

In order to do so, Coach Skinn is turning up the pressure on his squad and that included a Friday workout session in the ring with the Patriot family!

🔼 Roll Call. In case we forgot that the first word in “student-athlete” is student, a slew of Patriots gave us quite a reminder this spring.

With 289 student-athletes honored, George Mason had the fifth-highest total in the entire Atlantic 10 as the conference announced its Commissioner’s Honor Roll distinction for 2022-23.

In total, the A-10 announced a record-breaking 3,954 student-athletes received Commissioner's Honor Roll distinction in the entire 14-team conference for 2022-23

Mason had 191 student-athletes with a 3.5 GPA or better and 30 with a 4.0 GPA. The senior class accounted for 104 of the nominees for the Patriots.

Designed to recognize excellence in the classroom, a student-athlete in an Atlantic 10-sponsored sport at a full member institution must have a combined fall and spring semester grade point average of 3.0 or higher for the academic year to be selected for the Commissioner's Honor Roll.

🌠 MASON MEMORY MONDAYS

The year - 1985.

It was a brisk October Friday evening. The roads were jammed. There was a buzz in the air. There was basketball being played in the brand new Patriot Center for the first time.

However, taking to the court that evening was not your Patriots, it was the Washington Bullets hosting the New York Knicks in a preseason game. It was the NBA debut by some guy with the last named Ewing. We heard he turned into a decent player for the Knickerbockers.

Over the course of the past 38 years, EagleBank Arena (formerly known as the Patriot Center), has hosted over 3,000 events and 10 million people during its history.

For several years (2009-2012), the arena ranked in the top-10 nationally and top-20 worldwide in ticket sales for venues with capacities between 10,001 and 15,000.

🤔 PATRIOT TRIVIA

A New Set Of Sidelines. This former Patriot was a menace on the field for four years, but now traded those sidelines for a different set of sidelines, roaming NFL stadiums all over the country.

During her time in Fairfax, she played in 51 games, scoring seven goals and helping Mason to the conference semifinals three of her four years and an appearance in the 2002 title match.

Now she’s covering the biggest names in the NFL and sports.

Can you name that former Patriot?

Think you got it? Scroll on down to the bottom of this email for the answer!

⭐ MONDAYS WITH MARVIN

Our New Leader. Each Monday for the rest of the summer, we’ll bring you a fact, tidbit, or highlight about our newest leader, Marvin Lewis, who officially begins his Athletic Director duties for the Patriots on July 1st.

Lewis knows all about the rigors of being a student-athlete as he was a standout on the court at Georgia Tech. He was a four-year starter for the Yellow Jackets, helping lead them to three postseason appearances, including two NCAA Tournaments and oh yeah, the 2004 National Championship game, which is kind of a big deal.

He was a two-year captain and in his four seasons, he played in 130 games, including 121 starts. He finished with 1,396 points, 471 rebounds and 221 assists in his collegiate career.

Safe to say, we got a hooper on our hands!

📬 STICK WITH US

Did someone send you the Patriot Brew? Well, the first thing you should do is thank them. The next thing you should do is subscribe here and get it in your inbox every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning just in time for your first cup of coffee!

🎉 TRIVIA ANSWER

Answer: Dianna Russini, of course!

That’s right, one of ESPN’s biggest NFL names is one of ours! The former Patriot soccer star has been with ESPN since 2015, starting as an anchor on SportsCenter, and now is one of the networks most connected NFL reporters.

And this past February, she covered her third straight Super Bowl for ESPN.

Let’s have a great week, y’all!