Future Freshman Spotlight: Ryan Pearson

By Mason Blogger Ryan Kish of George Mason Basketball Blog

I have raved a lot recently about my man crush on incoming freshman Andre Cornelius but that's not to discount the rest of the class.

Ryan Pearson, a 6-7 forward from NYC could be the star of the '08 class. Numerous scouting websites have been calling him a steal for the Patriots for a while. mentioning all the bigger conference teams that coveted him. Teams at Memphis, Pittsburgh and St. John's all had Pearson on their radar but considered him too small for the power forward position. Did I mention that Pearson is left-handed? So let's see a talented lefty forward who is shunned by the majors because he's not tall enough.

Can we say Will Thomas?

This article on Rivals.com breaks down Pearson's game, listing his strengths and weaknesses. After reading it, you can find some strikingly similar features to Will Thomas' game. Pearson might get more playing time as a freshman compared to Cornelius simply due to his position.

At the moment, Mason is more deep at the guard position and frankly what returning forward from last season played consistently? The answer is none. Louis Birdsong is most likely going to start due his experience along with Vlad Moldoveanu or Chris Fleming, but when you consider how none of these guys have a legitimate post game, Pearson could have an opportunity to step in early.

Don't forget big Darryl Monroe, how much will missing all of last season hurt his game. That will greatly determine the starting lineup. Unlike Vlad last season, Pearson has a game that will translate much easier from high school to Division I and Coach L's strategy. Although I do expect the abundance of experienced guards will have us seeing more 4-guard rotations next season - which in no way is a bad thing as we saw the success it had at certain points during last season.

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