James Madison Dukes men's basketball

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James Madison Dukes
2021–22 James Madison Dukes men's basketball team
University	James Madison University
Head coach	Mark Byington (2nd season)
Conference	Colonial Athletic Association
Location	Harrisonburg, Virginia
Arena	Atlantic Union Bank Center (Capacity: 8,500)
Nickname	Dukes
Student section	Electric Zoo
Colors	Purple and gold[1]
Uniforms
Home Away
NCAA Tournament Round of 32
1981, 1982, 1983
NCAA Tournament Appearances
1981, 1982, 1983, 1994, 2013
Conference tournament champions
1981, 1983, 1994, 2013
Conference regular season champions
1981, 1982, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 2000, 2015, 2021

The James Madison Dukes men's basketball team is the intercollegiate men's basketball program representing James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The school's team currently competes in the Colonial Athletic Association in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The Dukes are led by head coach Mark Byington. The Dukes play their home games at the on-campus Atlantic Union Bank Center which seats 8,500 fans and opened in November 2020.

History[]

The James Madison Dukes men's basketball team was founded in 1945, but was not a fully developed program until the late 1960s as James Madison University became a fully coeducational institution. The 1969–1970 season was the first as a varsity intercollegiate program. The Dukes were led by Cleve Branscum during the team's first two seasons, compiling a record of 20–17. The program was guided by new Administrative Director Dean Ehlers for the 1971–1972 season. Ehlers hired Lou Campanelli following the season, but remained at James Madison as the A.D. until 1993.

Lou Campanelli era[]

Taking over as the James Madison head coach in 1972, Lou Campanelli led the Dukes program for thirteen years (1972-1985). Campanelli coached the Dukes to two NCAA Division II Basketball Tournaments and then three NCAA Division I Basketball Tournaments after the school transitioned from Division II to Division I. In the Dukes' first ever appearance in the NCAA Division I tournament in 1981, Campanelli coached the team to a win over Georgetown. The Dukes would win a game in each of the Dukes’ following appearances in the NCAA Division I tournament under Campanelli.

Lou Campanelli was hired as the head coach at California in 1985. Campanelli finished at James Madison with a record of 238–118.

John Thurston era[]

John Thurston was hired as the fourth head coach of the James Madison Dukes men's basketball team in 1985. Thurston had previously served as an assistant coach under Campanelli with the Dukes since 1975. Thurston successfully turned the program around in his second season at the helm, guiding the Dukes to a 20–10 record, a berth in the National Invitation Tournament, and was named Colonial Athletic Association Coach of the Year. However, with a 6–11 start to the 1988 season, James Madison University President Ronald E. Carrier announced that Thurston's contract would not be renewed at the end of the season and Thurston resigned hours later.^[2] The Dukes replaced Thurston with interim head coach Tom McCorry to finish the 1988 season.

Lefty Driesell era[]

In 1988, the Dukes hired former Davidson and Maryland head coach Lefty Driesell to lead the program.^[3] Driesell led the Dukes for nine seasons, compiling a record of 159–111 and taking the Dukes to the NCAA Tournament in 1994.

Sherman Dillard era[]

In 1997, James Madison hired Sherman Dillard to lead the men's basketball program.^[4] Sherman Dillard played basketball at James Madison under Lou Campanelli from 1973 to 1978. Prior to accepting the position at JMU, he had been the coach at Indiana State. He led the Dukes through the 2004 season, guiding the program to one regular season title in 2000 and compiling a record of 93–106.

Dean Keener era[]

The Dukes hired Dean Keener in 2004 to be the program's next men's basketball head coach. Keener came from Georgia Tech, where he was an assistant on the 2004 National Runner-Up team. He had also been a one time assistant coach at JMU under Sherman Dillard for the 1999–2000 season.

Under Keener, the Dukes complied a record of 31–85. During the 2008 season, Kenner resigned as the head coach, but he led the team through the end of the season.^[5]

Matt Brady era[]

James Madison hired Matt Brady to be the head coach of the men's basketball program in 2008. In his first season, Brady led the Dukes to an 18-win regular season and earned the program's first postseason berth since 1994 in the newly created CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.

Under Brady in 2013, the Dukes won their first CAA Tournament since 1994, earning a berth in the NCAA Tournament. As a 16 seed, the Dukes defeated Long Island in the First Four before being defeated by Indiana in the Second Round.

Matt Brady led the Dukes to a share of the regular season CAA title in 2015 but the Dukes did not win the CAA Tournament and were invited to the CIT Tournament. Brady was fired following the 2016 season, despite winning 21 games.^[6]

Louis Rowe era[]

In 2016, James Madison hired JMU men's basketball alumnus and former assistant coach Louis Rowe to be the program's tenth men's basketball coach. Rowe led the Dukes for four seasons before being let go at the end of the 2020 season.^[7] Under Rowe, the Dukes compiled a record of 43–85.

Mark Byington era[]

In March 2020, James Madison hired Mark Byington to lead the Dukes men's basketball team. Before coming to JMU, Byington was the head coach at Georgia Southern.^[8] In his first season at JMU, Mark Byington lead the Dukes to a share of the regular season title, the team's first since the 2015 season.

In the first season of his tenure at James Madison, the Dukes opened their new on-campus arena, the Atlantic Union Bank Center.

Rivalries[]

Historically, James Madison's rivals had been in-state members of the Colonial Athletic Association: William & Mary, VCU, George Mason, Old Dominion, and Richmond. However, of these schools, only William & Mary remains in the CAA, but James Madison has continued to schedule the other teams in non-conference play.

James Madison vs. In-State NCAA Division I Schools[]

School	Record	First Meeting	Last Meeting
George Mason	48–48	1970	2021
Hampton	4–1	1995	2013
Liberty	7–2	1980	2009
Longwood	6–2	2005	2016
Norfolk State	2–2	1998	2020
Old Dominion	28–58	1972	2021
Radford	15–4	1984	2021
Richmond	22–34	1980	2017
Virginia	1–11	1977	2021
VCU	22–44	1971	2020
VMI	14–7	1973	2007
Virginia Tech	4–10	1978	2006
William & Mary	51–50	1978	2022

James Madison also maintains competitive series against the other members of the Colonial Athletic Association.

James Madison vs. CAA Members[]

School	Record	First Meeting	Last Meeting
Charleston	5–11	2007	2020
Delaware	13–21	2002	2020
Drexel	16–24	1995	2021
Elon	9–8	1975	2021
Hofstra	15–23	2002	2022
Northeastern	9–23	1977	2022
Towson	37–15	1979	2021
UNC Wilmington	37–41	1979	2020
William & Mary	51–50	1978	2022

Source:^[9]

Postseason results[]

NCAA Division I tournament results[]

The Dukes have appeared in the NCAA Division I Tournament five times. Their combined record is 4–5.

Year	Round	Seed	Opponent	Result
1981	First Round Second Round	#10	Georgetown Notre Dame	W 61–55 L 45–54
1982	First Round Second Round	#9	Ohio State North Carolina	W 55–48 L 50–52
1983	First Round Second Round	#10	West Virginia North Carolina	W 57–50 L 49–68
1994	First Round	#14	Florida	L 62–64
2013	First Four Second Round	#16	Long Island Indiana	W 68–55 L 62–83

NCAA Division II tournament results[]

The Dukes have appeared in the NCAA Division II Tournament twice. Their record is 0–3.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1974	First Round	Fisk	L 54–59
1976	Regional Semifinals Regional 3rd Place Game	Old Dominion Morgan State	L 77–86 L 81–86

NIT results[]

The Dukes have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) five times. Their combined record is 0–5.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1987	First Round	Stephen F. Austin	L 63–70
1990	First Round	New Orleans	L 74–78
1991	First Round	Providence	L 93–98
1992	First Round	Rutgers	L 69–73
1993	First Round	Providence	L 61–73

CBI results[]

The Dukes have appeared in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) once. Their record is 0–1.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
2011	First Round	Davidson	L 65–85

CIT results[]

The Dukes have appeared in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) twice. Their record is 2–2.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
2009	First Round Quarterfinals Semifinals	Mount St. Mary's Liberty Old Dominion	W 69–58 W 88–65 L 43–81
2015	First Round	USC Upstate	L 72–73

References[]

External links[]

• Official website