New George Mason basketball coach Paul Hewitt certainly made a bold statement in an interview with Mike DeCourcy of AOL/Sporting News at the Colonial Athletic Association's media day on Tuesday. Speaking about George Mason as a program, Hewitt said that he feels the Patriots can win an NCAA title at some point during his tenure.
"There’s only one thing I haven’t done in college basketball, and that’s win a national championship," Hewitt told Sporting News. "I feel like we can do that here."
That seems like a provocative statement on the surface, considering the Patriots lost leading scorer Cam Long to graduation and Luke Hancock to a transfer. However, perhaps it isn't that crazy considering both George Mason and Virginia Commonwealth have represented the CAA in the Final Four in the past six years.
Hewitt also said he expects to be able to compete for top recruits, considering his success doing so as the head coach at Georgia Tech.