By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor

The consensus among those who coached, played alongside or competed against Darius Mason is that the Pasadena High School star is ready to play Division 1 basketball at the collegiate level right now.

Mason was a three-year starter for Coach Tony Brooks’ program, and for a team that year in and year out is one of the most elite throughout the southern section.

Mason, though, a 2019 Pasadena graduate, won’t be playing D-1 college ball when the 2019-20 season gets underway in November.

Instead, the 18-year old standout will be traveling some 2,520 miles from home on August 25 to attend Orangeville Prep, in Orangeville, Ontario, Canada.

Mason intends to sharpen his tools in Canada and become as versatile as possible.

His mission to is raise his stock through hard work over the next year, and with the hopes of becoming a highly sought after commodity for D-1 scouts and coaches.

In his three years at PHS, the Bulldogs went 74-22 overall, 41-1 in Pacific League action and 11-5 in the postseason.

The Bulldogs kept alive their long and consecutive streak of winning Pacific League championships and they made back-t0-back CIF-SS final game appearances in both his sophomore and junior seasons.

At 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds, Mason already has a college-ready body.

But it’s his versatility and consistency that make him special, not to mention he is a very solid young man.

Over his time at PHS, Mason was in the top two or three when it came to points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocked shots.

His full stats are below, but he averaged roughly 13 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals per game over his career.

And while some may say those numbers aren’t mind blowing, one must realize that he was part of a very deep and selfless team that spread out the wealth about as evenly as any coach could hope for.

The best of the best over that stretch was Bryce Hamilton, who put up nearly 23 points and 10 rebounds per game.

Hamilton went on to UNLV after graduating from PHS, in 2018 and he has a very high upside.

Mason’s point guard was another huge star in Darius Brown II.

DBII averaged approximately 18 points and 11 assists per game, and Brown had a very solid 2018-19 season during his freshman year at Cal State Northridge.

The other D-1 stud that Mason played with was current New Mexico basketball player, Tavian Percy.

Percy had an outstanding senior year in which he put up 14 points and 6 rebounds each night.

The point of listing those stats was to illustrate just how balanced the Bulldogs were, but it also meant that no one was going to put up numbers like they would if there was just a single go-to guy on the roster.

And what made that success possible, along with their obvious physical skills, was the fact that the PHS basketball program is very much a family, and his teammates will remain his lifelong brothers.

Aside from his track record of versatility, the most endearing part about Mason, at least to this writer, is his character, unselfish behavior on and off the court and his willingness to do anything and everything asked of him to give Pasadena its best chance of winning a basketball game.

He didn’t give a damn if from time to time he wasn’t necessarily in a starring role.

If Pasadena High School won basketball games, Darius Mason was happy and he always did his part.

Mason is also old school in the sense that he finds no need or positive outcome in showing up or disrespecting an opponent, a ref or the game he loves.

He does his talking with his play on the court.

How did Mason become so humble, polite, selfless and mature?

Some of that credit has to go to coaches Tony Brooks, Darius Brown Senior and the entire staff at Pasadena.

But the lion’s share of the praise has to go to his strong, amazing and independent mother, Georgia Jones.

Mason said his mom has worked her butt off and sacrificed so much to give her children the best life and future possible.

“I play this game because I love it, but the reason I can chase my dreams is because my mom puts my siblings and me first with all the sacrifices she makes for us, and I could never put into words how much she and that means to me,” Mason said. “I play the game now for her and I want to be the best player, person and student that I can be to pay her back for everything she’s done for me.”

Why Orangeville Prep? Why Canada?

“I wanted to become independent and grow up,” he said. “My mom did her part to get me here and now it’s up to me to become a man. The other reason I’m going to Canada is because Coach Jeremy Pope and I hit it off well, and I know he is going to challenge me to become the best player I can be, so I can have a shot at a Division 1 career in college.”

To any and all potential D-1 coaches, if you give Darius Mason a shot to compete for your program, you’re getting a guy who will obviously put in the work to become better tomorrow than he is today. He is also humble, appreciative and articulate, and perhaps best of all, he just wants to do his part.

Said Mason: “I want to thank Coach Brooks for everything he’s done for me, both on and off the court. He does so many things for us as a caring coach that no one knows, but we, the players, appreciate it so much. I also want my teammates to know that they’re my brothers, they helped me get better and my time with them is something I’ll also look back to with pride.”

Quotable:

PHS head basketball coach, Tony Brooks: “Right now, Darius Mason is ready for D-1 college basketball. Physically, Darius’ body has the physical strength and stamina to withstand the rigors of college basketball. Athletically, he is one of the most gifted basketball players to ever dawn the red and white jersey at Pasadena HS. His basketball IQ is at a high level because of the tremendous natural instinct That is on display whenever he is on the court. He can play multiple positions, he can guard a wide range of players and playing styles, and no one attacks the rim better and elevates to the rim higher than Darius Mason.

Because all of this is very apparent when first watching Darius play, you don’t realize that perhaps his best attribute as a player is his intelligence, his natural unselfishness and his ability to blend his game with the teammates around him. A very smart kid on the court and in the classroom. Darius is another SoCal player overlooked by programs looking for players that don’t exist rather than taking a player like Darius that possesses such tremendous upside, but needs time to develop his skill further. Darius’ opportunity to play in prep school will allow him the extra time to develop and to also be seen by additional programs on the east coast. The sky is the limit for him. I fully expect Darius to one day soon play for a D-1 team. Those that know him well will not be surprised.”

PHS assistant coach, Darius Brown Senior: “Mason is a great kid, I’ve known him since the fifth grade. As an athlete, he’s strong and plays bigger than his 6’4″ frame, as a player he is versatile and plays with a lot of energy. As a teammate, he’s what you look for, an unselfish playmaker that can fill the stat sheet. When it comes to playing college ball, if he continues to work hard and play with the same mentality, he will be a major contributor to any school.”

Former PHS forward/Current University of New Mexico player, Tavian Percy: “Mason is a hard worker that will absolutely succeed at basketball at any level, because he’s unselfish and makes the right plays. That’s what made our PHS team so good, because we had players like him that are not always worried about scoring and willing to do whatever it takes to win games. Off the court, he is a very funny and he’s also a really good person.”

Former PHS point guard/Current Cal State Northridge player, Darius Brown II: “Darius Mason is great player that’ll do anything for the team. Great mid-range and an excellent finisher. He’s also a great teammate on and off the court. He’s my best friend off the court and just a great dude you love to have around. He will be successful in college because of his skill of adapting to any level. He will grow and be successful, because that’s just the type of player he is.”

PHS senior guard, Davian Brown: “Darius Mason is one of the most funny guys to be around. Darius is a hard worker and a challenger on the court. He is a great leader on and off the court. I’ve been playing basketball with Darius Mason since he was in 5th grade and I was happy when I heard he was transferring to PHS. He’s a strong guard, who can play multiple positions and give you what a coach wants and needs. I know he can have success at the college level, because he loves the sport. I have high hopes for Darius in the future, and I know he’ll find a way to fit in at any school and for any program.”

PHS team records while Darius Mason was a member of the Bulldogs:

2018-19: 22-7 overall, 14-0 in Pacific League play, 0-1 in the playoffs

2017-18: 25-8, 13-1, 5-2

2016-17: 27-7, 14-0, 6-2

Darius Mason’s stats (per game) over the past three years:

2018-19: 14: 14 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocked shots.

2017-18: 10 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 3 blocked shots.

2016-17: 12 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocked shots.