3.26 Vanessa Blair-Lewis: Bigger Deposits

“If you want a bigger house, you have to make a bigger deposit.” - Vanessa Blair-Lewis

Before the start of the 2021 basketball season, the new head women’s basketball coach at George Mason, Vanessa Blair-Lewis, hung a banner that read: Future Atlantic 10 Champions. It symbolized the championships she promised they would win and the future banners she promised to hang.

This was a bold prediction for a team coming off a 3-win season, but it sent a message: Anything is possible if you are willing to put in the work.

She told the team then, “We’re not putting this on social media, we’re not telling everyone about this. What you do here every day without the bright lights, without the cameras, will show if one day we’re worthy of this. And we will be.”

They made this promise a reality in the 2024-25 season, where they won their first-ever conference tournament championship, recorded a school-record 27 wins, and reached back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time in program history.

Their success can be summed up in three words:

Vision
Belief
Work

Coach Blair-Lewis had a bold vision for herself, her athletes, and the program, then she got everyone to believe in the vision.

Then, they put in the work. Following their first-round loss to Florida State in the National Tournament, Coach Blair-Lewis told reporters, “If you want a bigger house, you have to make a bigger deposit.”

She and her players made those deposits, and because of that, they became champions.

Question of the Day: In what area of your life do you need to make a bigger deposit, and what does that look like?