The James Madison University Dukes
are the athletics teams of James Madison University. The name "Dukes" is derived from Samuel Page Duke, the university's second president. JMU participates in the Colonial Athletic Association, which is in Division I. In football JMU participates in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) of Division I, formerly known as Division I-AA. Their mascot, Duke Dog, is frequently seen at events. JMU has won two national championships, tied for third most in Virginia.
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JAMES MADISON DUKES TICKETS
EVENT | DATE | AVAILABILITY |
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James Madison Dukes Women's Basketball vs. Troy Trojans Tickets 12/29 | Dec 29, 2024 Sun, 2:00 PM | | James Madison Dukes vs. Midway Athletics Eagles Tickets 12/29 | Dec 29, 2024 Sun, 5:00 PM | | James Madison Dukes vs. Southern Miss Golden Eagles Tickets 1/2 | Jan 02, 2025 Thu, 7:00 PM | | James Madison Dukes vs. Arkansas State Red Wolves Tickets 1/4 | Jan 04, 2025 Sat, 4:00 PM | | Texas State Bobcats Women's Basketball vs. James Madison Dukes Tickets 1/4 | Jan 04, 2025 Sat, 2:00 PM | |
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Football
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, ending with a 31-85 record. They play in the
James Madison University Convocation Center. The team is historically stronger than the football team, but has suffered in the past few years. The Dukes have made the
NCAA Tournament four times, most recently in the 1994 season. They've also gone to the
NIT five times, most recently in the 1993 season. At the end of the 2008-2009 season, the Dukes were selected for the inaugural
CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. They would make it to the semifinals before losing to the rival and eventual champion
Old Dominion Monarchs. The basketball team has an all-time record of 567-432.
Women's basketball
The women's basketball team, currently coached by
Kenny Brooks, 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 six times, most recently in the 2006-07 season. They have gone to the
WNIT four times, most recently in the 2008-09 season. They have an all-time record of 779-447-5. A perennial postseason participant throughout the 1980's, the program has seen a revival in recent years. Some of the top players JMU has ever had have only graduated in recent years. Meredith Alexis, who graduated in 2007, was dominant throughout her career at JMU and has continued on to play professional basketball in Europe. She holds the conference record for most career rebounds and was the school's all-time leading scorer before being passed by
Tamera Young in the 2007-2008 season. Young would go on that season to break the conference's all-time scoring record and was selected 8th overall in the
2008 WNBA Draft.
Baseball
The JMU
baseball team is coached by
Joe "Spanky" McFarland, and has been since the 1997 season. They were founded in 1970, and currently play at
Mauck Stadium and Long Field. They have a 1092-670-8 all-time record and have made the NCAA Tournament eight times, most recently in
2008.
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 1. 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 which qualified the team for the Regional of the
2008 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament hosted by
North Carolina State University in
Raleigh, NC.
Field Hockey
The
field hockey team, currently coached by Antoinette Lucas, has had great success, winning the
national championship in 1994 over
North Carolina in double overtime.
[1] The team has made the NCAA tournament nine times since the tournament started in 1981, most recently in the 2008 season.
[2]
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.
[3] 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.
[4]
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.
[5] 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 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.
[6]
References
- NCAA Field Hockey Champions
- #4 JMU DRAWS #12 VIRGINIA IN NCAA FIELD HOCKEY FIRST ROUND - JMUSports.com—Official Web site of James Madison University Athletics
- JMU Enacts Proportionality Plan to Comply with Title IX
- Letter from United States Olympic Committee
- BOV to decide athletic future
- Final Verdict - BOV votes to cut scholarships