2024–25 James Madison Dukes men's basketball team explained

Mode:Basketball
Year:2024–25
Prev Year:2023–24
Next Year:2025–26
Team:James Madison Dukes
Conference:Sun Belt Conference
Short Conf:Sun Belt
Record:5–4
Conf Record:0–0
Hc Year:1st
Asst Coach1:Scott Combs
Asst Coach2:Dominic Lombardi
Asst Coach3:Cason Burk
Asst Coach4:Dionte Ferguson

The 2024–25 James Madison Dukes men's basketball team represents James Madison University in the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Dukes are led by first-year head coach Preston Spradlin and play their home games at the Atlantic Union Bank Center in Harrisonburg, Virginia, as members of the Sun Belt Conference.

Previous season

The Dukes' 2023–24 season was the most successful year in school history, beginning the season with upsetting then-ranked No. 4 Michigan State, their first win over a ranked team since defeating California in 1992.[1] This season also marked their first appearance as a ranked team in the AP poll in school history.[2] The Dukes finished the 2023–24 season with a record of 28–3, 15–3 in Sun Belt play, to finish in second place.[3] They defeated Marshall, Texas State and Arkansas State in the Sun Belt tournament to win the tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 12 seed in South region, marking the team's first trip to the NCAA tournament since 2013. They upset No. 5-seeded Wisconsin in the first round to advance on to the second round for the first time since 1983.[4] There they lost to Duke in the second round, ending the season with a 32–4 overall record.

On March 25, 2024, head coach Mark Byington left the school to become the head coach at Vanderbilt.[5]

Preseason

Preseason Sun Belt Conference poll

The Dukes were picked to finish in second place in the conference's preseason poll.[6] Redshirt senior guard Mark Freeman was named to the preseason All-SBC First Team. Junior guard Xavier Brown was named to the conference preseason third team.

Coaches poll
1 Arkansas State - 193 (12)
2 James Madison - 170 (1)
3 Troy - 155 (1)
4 Louisiana - 144
5 Southern Miss - 133
6 App State - 122
7 Texas State - 89
T8 Georgia Southern - 85
T8 Old Dominion - 85
10 Marshall - 79
11 South Alabama - 78
12 Georgia State - 75
13 Coastal Carolina - 34
14 ULM - 28

Schedule and results

|-!colspan=12 style=| Regular season|-!colspan=9 style=| Sun Belt tournament

Notes and References

  1. Web site: James Madison surprises No. 4 Michigan State 79-76 in OT, earning program's 2nd Top 25 win. November 26, 2024. November 6, 2023. Associated Press. ESPN.
  2. Web site: Dukes Ranked in AP Poll For First Time in Program History. November 13, 2023. November 13, 2023. jmusports.com.
  3. Web site: March 2, 2024 . JMU Men's Basketball Claims No. 2 Seed for Sun Belt Conference Championship . November 26, 2024. James Madison University Athletics . en.
  4. Web site: March 23, 2024 . No. 12 James Madison Controls No. 5 Wisconsin 72-61 in NCAA First Round . November 26, 2024. James Madison University Athletics . en.
  5. Web site: Norlander . Matt . 2024-03-26 . Vanderbilt hires Mark Byington: James Madison coach led Dukes to 32-4 record in 2023-24 season . November 26, 2024 . CBSSports.com . en.
  6. Web site: Arkansas State Tops 2024-25 Sun Belt Men's Basketball Preseason Poll . 2024-10-14 . 26 November 2024 . sunbeltsports.org . en.