Devonte “Ticket” Gaines is in his first season at George Mason, and so is head coach Kim English. For both English and Gaines, the relationship was there from the start, but it didn’t begin in Fairfax. It actually began two years ago at the University of Tennessee.
“He came in as one of those coaches that you notice right away, their passion for the game,” said Gaines. “That’s what he brought to Tennessee early on.”
“When Ticket came in, we were kind of figuring him out,” said English. “I remember in our first workout, glancing over at the coaches on the side, and they were all nodding their head like he’s going to be okay.”
In his two years with the Volunteers, Ticket started one game, and averaged under 10 minutes of floor time. In the spring of 2021, English got the job as George Mason’s next head coach of the men’s basketball team. For Ticket, it was a no brainer.
“He is a young coach, but I feel like he knows a lot about the game and just to me, as a young player, I was learning from him,” said Gaines. “Just seeing how he operated, I felt like he was a coach I wanted to play for.”
It was a tough few years at Tennessee for Ticket. He just wasn’t getting the minutes he was hoping for. Fast forward to his first year with the Patriots, and it’s a whole new ball game. The junior is nearly averaging a double-double on the season (10.6 PPG, 8 RPG) and playing over 30 minutes a night. It was something that Coach English new he could do from the start.
“I feel like the confidence he instilled in me from day one, from the first workout, first practice, all the way until now,” said Gaines. “He just encouraged me to be the player I know I can be.”
“Absolutely I knew that he would be productive here,” said English. “Most exciting thing about him is there’s a lot of growth to be had in Ticket. I think he’s only scratching the surface, and I say that about a lot of our guys. But it’s true, on how good they can be, and Ticket is one of them.”
George Mason men’s basketball will be back in action on Thursday as they take on Fordham in the second round of the Atlantic-10 Conference Tournament. Tip off from Capital One Arena is at 12pm.