The James Madison University Dukes (JMU) is the name given to the athletics teams of James Madison University, in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The name "Dukes" is derived from Samuel Page Duke, the university's second president. JMU is a charter member of the Colonial Athletic Association, which sponsors sports at the NCAA Division I level. In football, JMU participates in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) of Division I, formerly known as Division I-AA. The university mascot, Duke Dog, is frequently seen at all sporting events, and the school colors are royal purple and gold. JMU has won two NCAA national championships, tied for third-most among Virginia colleges and universities.
JMU's women's athletics tradition is among the oldest in the nation, dating nearly back to the institution's founding in 1908. Strong intercollegiate programs for women have been in place at the university since the early 1920s, and JMU was among the first of the nation's institutions to provide well-rounded overall intercollegiate offerings for females. Men's athletics began at JMU during the late 1940s, and a comprehensive program for men began evolving in the late 1960s when the university became fully coeducational.
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Teams
Baseball
The JMU baseball team's head coach is Marlin Ikenberry. Founded in 1970, the JMU baseball team played at Long Field at Mauck Stadium through the end of the 2009 season. In 2010 they opened play at Eagle Field at Veterans Memorial Park, the school's new baseball and softball complex. The "Diamond Dukes," as the team is known, have compiled a 1092-670-8 all-time record and have made the NCAA Tournament nine times, most recently in 2011. Billy Sample is JMU's most famous baseball alumnus, who played in 862 career major league games with the Texas Rangers, New York Yankees, and Atlanta Braves. In the 2006 season, JMU had the top-two home run hitters in Division I. One of them, Kellen Kulbacki, placed in the top five in all three of the triple crown categories. Kulbacki received the 2006 National Player of the Year award as a sophomore. In 2008, the Dukes won their first CAA Championship defeating Towson University qualifying the team for the 2008 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament hosted by North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC. The Dukes also won the CAA Championship in 2011 defeating Old Dominion University qualifying the team for the 2011 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.
Men's basketball
The men's basketball team at JMU was founded in 1945. On March 25, 2008, it was announced that Matt Brady, former head coach of Marist College, had accepted the position of Head Men's Basketball Coach. Brady replaced Dean Keener who resigned after four years as head coach. Prior to Dean Keener, Lou Campanelli and Charles "Lefty" Driesell enjoyed long and successful tenures in the position. The men presently play in the James Madison University Convocation Center, capacity 7612. The Dukes have appeared in the NCAA tournament five times, most recently in the 2013 tournament. Their combined record is 4-5. They've also been selected to compete in the NIT five times, most recently at the end of the 1993 season. At the end of the 2008-09 season, the Dukes were selected for the inaugural CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. JMU made the semifinals before losing to CAA conference rival and eventual CIT champion Old Dominion Monarchs. The men's basketball team has compiled an all-time record of 567-432. On March 12, 2013 the Dukes defeated Northeastern University to win the CAA tournament, earning an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. This is the first appearance in the tournament since 1994 and only the second time in school history they have won the CAA.
Women's basketball
The women's basketball team was founded in 1920 making it one of the longest-running women's basketball programs in the country. The team has made the NCAA Tournament eleven times, most recently in the 2013-14 season. They have gone to the WNIT six times. A perennial postseason participant throughout the 1980s, the program has seen a revival in recent years. Nationally recognized JMU players who have recently graduated include Meredith Alexis (2007) who has continued to play professional basketball in Europe. Alexis holds the CAA record for most career rebounds and was the school's all-time leading scorer before being passed by Tamera Young during the 2007-08 season. Young would graduate and finish the 2008 season having established a new all-time CAA scoring record and was selected in the first round (8th overall) of the 2008 WNBA Draft. Dawn Evans, was an Associated Press All-American honorable mention in 2009 after finishing the season as the nation's third leading scorer, and was named CAA Player of the Year in 2011. The team won the 2010 Colonial Athletic Association championship for the first time since 1989, defeating ODU in the championship game, and again in 2011, defeating the University of Delaware. In 2012 the team competed in the WNIT defeating Davidson, Wake Forest, South Florida, Virginia, and Syracuse to reach the championship game. Competing for their first ever WNIT title, they played Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma and lost 75-68. As of 2010, the women's basketball team had compiled an all-time record of 779-447-5. On January 6, 2015, the JMU Lady Dukes became the 3rd NCAA women's basketball team to reach 1000 wins in program history, defeating the UNC-Wilmington Seahawks 74-57.
Field hockey
The field hockey team, currently coached by Antoinette Lucas, has enjoyed great success, winning the national championship in 1994 over North Carolina in double overtime. The team has made the NCAA tournament nine times since the tournament started in 1981, most recently in the 2008 season.
Football
The Dukes played their first season in 1972 and were coached by Challace McMillin until 1984. Madison moved from NCAA Division III to NCAA Division I-AA in 1980 and would join what is now the Colonial Athletic Association's football conference in 1993 (at the time it was an independent entity known as the Yankee Conference). The football team's popularity grew with the addition of Mickey Matthews in 1999, who in 2004 led JMU to their first National Championship. Since that time, the Dukes have proven to be one of the more formidable teams in all of FCS football. In 2010, JMU went on the road to defeat Virginia Tech in what was one of the biggest upsets in college football history. On January 7, 2017 JMU won its second FCS National Championship in the program's history, defeating Youngstown State by a score of 28-14 in Frisco, Texas. Notable Dukes include Charles Haley, the only player to win five Super Bowl rings and inductee of both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and College Football Hall of Fame; Scott Norwood, the Buffalo Bills' all-time leading scorer; and Gary Clark, an All-Pro wide receiver for the Washington Redskins.
Softball
Men's soccer
James Madison Basketball Score Video
National championships and playoff appearances
Title IX compliance
On September 29, 2006, the James Madison University Board of Visitors announced that ten sports teams would be eliminated effective July 1, 2007. The affected teams were men's archery, cross country, gymnastics, indoor track, outdoor track, swimming, and wrestling, as well as women's archery, fencing, and gymnastics. The stated reason for the cuts was to comply with Title IX requirements, specifically that the ratio of male-to-female student athletes match the whole student population. Many students were angered by the cuts, complaining that only less-popular sports were affected, and not sports such as football. Numerous editorials have appeared in newspapers across the country, both in support of and against the decision. On October 12, the United States Olympic Committee sent a letter to President Rose and Athletic Director Jeff Bourne, asking them to reconsider the decision to eliminate all ten teams.
This action, however, was not without precedent. In March 2001, JMU's Board of Visitors was presented with four options for bringing the athletic program into compliance with Title IX. At that time, the options as presented to the board were to maintain the status quo, eliminate eight teams as recommended by JMU's Centennial Sports Committee, create a two-tiered system consisting of scholarship and non-scholarship teams as recommended by the administration, or raise student fees to fund an endowment for athletic scholarships as recommended by athletic coaches. Board of Visitors Athletic Committee chair Pablo Cuevas was paraphrased in The Breeze as stating that the option of maintaining the status quo was not viable due to concerns regarding Title IX. At that time, the teams under consideration for elimination were men's wrestling, swimming, archery, gymnastics, and tennis, and women's gymnastics, archery, and fencing. The Board of Visitors, in a unanimous vote, ultimately decided to adopt the administration's recommendation of a two-tiered system of scholarship and non-scholarship teams. The non-scholarship teams were men's swimming, indoor and outdoor track and field, cross country, golf, wrestling, tennis, gymnastics, and women's swimming, golf, tennis and gymnastics. Athletic director Jeff Bourne stated that the plan to eliminate scholarship funding would be implemented gradually over four to five years, as all then-active scholarships would be honored, and that verbal commitments to scholarships made by coaches to potential recruits would also be honored.
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