New Towson head coach Pat Skerry scored a major coup Thursday by securing a verbal commitment from
Petersburg (Va.) rising senior guard
Frank Mason.
"He decided earlier this morning," said Michael Blackwell, Mason's club coach with Virginia-based Team Loaded. "He took an unofficial visit last week and decided Towson was the best fit."
One of Virginia's top scorers during the 2010-11 season, Mason piled up 27.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game as a junior for the 22-4 Crimson Waves. He scored a season-high 46 points during a January victory over
Meadowbrook (Richmond). Mason's best all-around outing was a 28-point, 14-rebound and eight-assist effort during a playoff win over
Varina (Richmond).
"Frank is relentless," Blackwell said. "He is an attack-mode type of guard."
Mason averaged 15.6 points per game as a sophomore for a 30-1 Petersburg team that reached the state title game. The Crimson Waves are 82-6 in his three seasons with the program.
The commitment comes as a bit of a surprise as Mason seemed to be a strong candidate to generate new interest during the July evaluation period.
"With Frank's situation, a lot of people wanted him to go high-major," Blackwell said. "I always felt the best fit was a smaller school in the CAA (Colonial Athletic Association) or Atlantic 10 where he could grow into the program in play his style his basketball.
"Virginia Tech was another school that was interested but I think they wanted to be patient and see how things went and Frank wasn't willing to wait."
Petersburg High School – the alma mater of NBA great Moses Malone – is a perennial power under head coach William Lawson III, one of Virginia's all-time winningest coaches.
