By now you know that Jim Larranaga has left George Mason to become the head coach at the University of Miami. Larranaga had turned down BCS jobs before and had gone to great lengths to convince Mason Nation that he was happy at the school and content to spend the rest of his career there. Combined with the fact that this entire situation went from rumor to job offer in about 24 hours, and it’s got to be an especially painful day for Mason fans. As documented Mason and Larranaga haters, our official position can be best be summed up as “HAHAHAHAHA.”
Our position as leaders in the anti-Mason movement, means this is pure bliss. Nothing is better than seeing your hated rivals suffer right? It did leave my quite conflicted about whether or not I was supposed to bash Larranaga (you know, since I hate him) or if I should worship him as a hero for inflicting pain on Mason fans. I couldn’t figure it out, so I’m just going to keep the venom flowing and root against both Miami and Mason.
Our unofficial position would probably be more along the lines of ,”Good for you Coach.” The guy took a completely unknown commuter school and turned it into, well, a commuter school with a successful basketball program. He won more games in the CAA than and coached in as many Final Fours as Shaka Smart, a far less experienced coach recently given a raise for hundreds of thousands of dollars more than Mason was going to pay Larranaga. And if that bothered him and Mason wouldn’t pay up, the God bless him for leaving. Yes, this probably was all about money and ego. Big deal. I suppose there really are people out there who would turn down a half-million dollar raise out of loyalty to their current employer. I’m just not one of them. And neither are 99.9% of the people criticizing Larranaga for jumping for a raise.
That’s all unofficial of course. Officially, I’m giddy with delight at the thought of Mason Nation crying in their beers and in strip malls all over Fairfax County. You know, because I just hate them so damn much.
JMU recuit, Kenyan Pittman
Last week I posted a brief update on the JMU basketball recruits who were expected to sign letters of intent. Fortunately, the two players I said were expected to sign, did sign. Kenyan Pittman and Arman Marks both officially committed to play for Coach Brady this week. Unfortunately, I also wrote that Marks played at the same high school as current JMU Duke Chad Jackson. That’s not true exactly. And by exactly, I mean not at all. It’s 100% wrong. They’re not even from the same town. Jackson played for Scott County High School in Georgetown, Kentucky and Marks played for Eastern High School in Louisville, Kentucky. Another Scott County players is rumored to be getting some looks from Coach Brady, but that’s really no excuse. It was just a stupid lazy mistake on my part.
Where a recruit played his high school basketball is generally rather insignificant. Unless of course the recruit’s high school was crucial to the point being made in at blog post. Which it was in this case. Awesome. I was trying to put a positive spin on this class, by arguing that Brady’s ability to recruit high school teammates and friends of current players, was a sign that guys bought into the system. That argument seems a little week now, considering the key piece of evidence was completely incorrect and all. And considering rumors are swirling that Chad Jackson is homesick and possibly transferring, that entire blog post is pretty much crap.
You’d think I’d learn after having to make multiple corrections to posts about last year’s posts about basketball recruiting. I clearly didn’t though. Maybe next year I will. Here’s what we do know though. The Dukes have signed 3 players, Enoch Hood, Arman Marks, and Kenyan Pittman. Hood and Pittman are big men, who are expected to add frontcourt depth. They have athleticism but need to put on some weight and develop their offensive games. Marks is a left handed jump-shooter who made more 3 pointers than anyone else on his high school team. I have no clue how many 3 pointers he took however. None of the recruits seem likely to come in and dominate offensively, but all are reported to outstanding attitudes and a willingness to do the little things. JMU didn’t lack scoring options last season. They did at times lack players who could rebound, run the court, and play defense though. So it’s tough to judge without seeing these guys play, but I’m going to focus on the positive and hope that they can address some of the Dukes needs next year and develop into real threats in a few years.
A little cross-promotion for an actual “official” JMU event, in this case the Spring Coaches Caravan events:
The DC/Nova Duke Club Coaches Caravan will be held Wednesday, May 4 at Boulevard Woodgrill in Arlington. Coaches Matthews, Brady, Brooks and Martin will be joining us, along with Jeff Bourne. Great food, drinks, auction items and of course the chance to hangout with your fellow Dukes! Plus, you never know what Mickey will say.
Advanced tickets are only $10 so RSVP here: https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/we…29410f8930127a
Rob and I have been attending this one for a few years and it never disappoints. Last year we got to talk with Buckhantz and had a lengthy conversation with Coach Brady (the one where he told us AJ Davis was the best player on the team even though he had to sit out this year!). Look for us this year in some type of JMUSB attire. Plus as a Boulevard Woodgrill employee alum during my law school days in Arlington, I’m thrilled to make a bigger night out of it when the official festivities die down and Buckhantz has left the building.
The Richmond “Dinner with the Dukes” is at the Ramada Plaza Richmond (formerly Richmond Sheraton) on Thursday April 28th. I’ve heard this is more of a formal soiree (Happy Hour plus a sit-down dinner) so tickets are a little more expensive ($25) and you have to RSVP to barry.saadatmand@gmail.com to receive the info on payment. Reservation deadine is this Sunday the 24th.
Lastly, AD Jeff Bourne is scheduled to appear at both events and in case you’re wondering what he’ll be discussing, he might be hyping this:
Billy Cosh.
Football season is still months away, but with the Dukes ready to play their annual spring game, we think it’s time to pretend like we have any insight into the mind of Mickey Matthews and predict who’ll earn the QB 1 job. Last season, the offense struggled and the Dukes failed to make the playoffs for the second year in a row. Now Mickey Matthews has assumed play calling duties and has a number of options at QB. All 4 contenders are enrolled, on campus, and practicing with the team. Rumor has it that Mickey’s going to choose a starter by the end of spring. That’s probably a good move for the program as it will add some stability and take away some of the uncertainty that surrounded the Dukes the past 2 summers. It’s probably a bad thing for us though, because we’re hoping to squeeze a few more posts out of this topic. Without further ado, let’s take a look at the candidates.
Justin Thorpe
Thorpe will be a redshirt junior entering the season and has more college experience than the rest of the QB’s combined. Unfortunately, none of the other guys have seen a down of action and Thorpe only has 12 games under his belt. And he wasn’t the starter in all 12. He’s an extremely athletic QB, who many fans have been overly critical of in the past. Everyone seems to discount his play as a freshman, when he was voted CAA Offensive Rookie of the Year. Last year he lost the staring job to Drew Dudzik, but was supposed to be used a change of pace QB. He got hurt in the first game and was out the rest of the season. He’s talented enough to play, and excel at multiple positions.
Billy Cosh
Cosh is a transfer from Kansas State who redshirted for the Wildcats last year before transfering to JMU. He’s a bit of a departure from the JMU QB norm in that he’s a pure passer. He put up some truly eye-popping numbers in high school, while becoming the all-time leading passer in Maryland state history. He supposedly was given assurances by the JMU coaching staff that they’d open up the offense to match his skills if he wins the job. He threw for 56 TDs and nearly 4,000 yards his senior year in high school, so it sounds like they’d be crazy not to.
read more…
JMU recruit, Arman Marks.
The spring signing period officially began today for basketball recruits. JMU has verbal committments from 2 players, Arman Marks and Kenyan Pittman, who are expected to sign their letters of intent. Much like the 2010-2011 Dukes basketball team though, these guys don’t appear to be quick starters. There has been no announcement that either player has signed his offer yet. Thankfully, basketball recruiting isn’t like football recruiting where programs pretty much expect to have their entire class in order by the end of signing day. Barring something extraordinary happening, it sounds like these guys will be suiting up for Coach Brady in the Fall.
The Dukes already received an official commitment from Enoch Hood during the Fall signing period. With only 3 scholarships available for next season, Hood, Marks, and Pittman should make up the entire class. All three guys have flown relatively under the radar, without any of them receiving too much hype. They might actually be the only recruits in the country without Youtube highlights. That’s OK though. While the CAA is definitely on the rise, recruiting at this level is more about finding the hidden gems with upside, than signing blue chips.
Enoch Hood is a 6″8 power forward from Norfolk, VA, who received a scholarship offer from VCU among others. That sounds much more impressive today than it would have a few months ago. He didn’t put up dominant offensive numbers, but he’s described as a real energy guy who can control the paint with his athleticism. The Dukes have guys who can score the ball, so if Hood can play solid defense and hit the boards, he could push for minutes immediately and make an impact.
Kenyan Pittman is another big man. The 6’10” center/power forward from Burgaw, NC. His father played for fellow CAA school, UNCW, but Marks declined his offer from the Seahawks to come play for the Dukes. He sounds pretty similar to Hood, which is a good thing. The fact that he mentions his rebounding, running the court, and blocking shots before talking about shooting, makes me think that he’s the sort of guy Brady sorely needs. The Dukes definitely lacked players who were willing to get their hands dirty and scrap down low. If Marks and Hood even just do that, they’ll be great additions.
Arman Marks rounds out the recruiting class. He’s a 6’4″ guard who played high school ball at Eastern High School in Georgetown, KY. He’s described as the best outside shooter on a team that included players who signed with Butler, Bradly, and IUPUI. If Eastern High School sounds familiar, that’s because it’s where the Dukes’ Chad Jackson played. That might be what has me most excited about this class. My assumption is that JMU would have no shot at Marks, if Jackson wasn’t fully committed to the program. Combine that with the fact that Brady has been known to leverage Julius Wells and Devon Moore’s connections in Ohio to get Humpty, Goins, and James Millen, and it seems like the guys on this roster fully buy into Coach Brady and his system. That’s definitely an encouraging sign.
NO WAY this one's done yet!
Damn right I’m following up Rob’s Quidditch post with a WNBA post within the week. In case you hadn’t noticed (, and judging by the attendance you haven’t) the WNBA draft was held today. And after an unrivaled career on the court in the ‘Burg to go hand-in-hand with generally being regarded as one of the finest examples of what it means to be a Duke off the hardwood, somehow Dawn Evans went undrafted today. W – T – F – !? Are you kidding me WNBA? Did you find a way to clone Wes Unseld circa 1998 to draft your teams? Lightning quick point guard with a quick release on a deadly outside jumper doesn’t fit the bill for “high-flying” league?
Considering some outlets had Evans going as high as 10th, and Minnesota Lynx GM told Ladyswish in this great post that Dawn was a 2nd rounder, she somehow slipped through all three rounds. Clearly I don’t actually know squat about this but I’ll let someone more knowledgable explain it here and just say that we here at JMUSB are absolutely positive Dawn Evans is going to turn into a steal of steals for whoever gives her a shot.
In better news, the actual seats are starting to go in at Bridgeforth. Just go check the webcam.
JMU baseball dropped 2 out of 3 against Georgia State this weekend. The Dukes dropped the final game of of the series on Justin Brown Day when they gave up a grand slam in the 9th innning. JMU now sits in 2nd place and is still in a strong position to make it to Wilmington, NC for the CAA tournament.
The Lady Dukes kept things rolling on the lacrosse field. They crushed ODU to pick up Head Coach (and classmate of mine at JMU) Shelley Klaes-Bawcombe’s 50th win while at JMU. They followed that up with a overtime defeat of #17 William & Mary. The women sit #9 in the polls and have a 9-2 record.
Spring football is underway and the Dukes played their first scrimmage over the weekend at Shenandoah University. Despite what that announcement said, the scrimmage was in fact closed to the public, but the official report is that the defense played well. We’re expecting big things from DJ Bryant in the fall so it’s awesome that he had 3 sacks.
Fans should get a chance to see the team this weekend however at the annual spring game being played in Richmond, due to the Bridgeforth construction. It’s still anyone’s guess who will win he QB job, so it will be interesting to see if Cosh, Thorpe, Coble, or Edwards turn any heads and get the fans talking.
The DNR’s Mke Barber doesn’t venture a guess who’ll win the QB battle, but he takes an early look at the 2011 Dukes and posts his first crack at the team’s depth chart.
JMU alum CJ Sapong continues to impress with his play for Sporting Kansas City in MLS. The rookie scored the match winner in extra time in as Kansas City defeated the Houston Dynamo in US Open Cup play. Sapong now has points in 3 of the 4 matches he’s played.
Denzel Bowles left JMU as soon as basketball season ended to prepare himself for a shot at the NBA. Despite planning on showcasing his talents in the Portsmouth Invitational last week, he dropped out and didn’t play.
And finally, JMU’s six-year plan was officially released last week and it includes funds for a new convocation center. This doesn’t mean anything officially, but it’s nice to see that there is at least a potential for a better hoops facility.
The magic of Google alerts helps me keep track of JMU sports related stories. Unfortunately with the limited coverage of the Dukes, those alerts mostly just point me back to this very blog, so they’re not exactly eye-opening. Recently however, I received an alert that prompted me to go read this article about the newly formed JMU Quidditch team. That’s right, a quidditch team. Quidditch, the “sport” that Harry Potter and his wizard friends play. And this isn’t unique to JMU, it’s supposedly quite a trend.
I’m not one to judge when it comes to this sort of stuff. I’ve read all the Harry Potter books and I’m pretty geeky. I blogged about the friggin CBI Tournament for pete’s sake. That alone makes it virtually impossible for me to call anyone else’s chosen hobbies into question. Plus, from the way it was described in the books, quidditch does sound like it would be a fun game to play. You know, provided it was real and not a completely made up game played by wizards flying around on brooms. The game JMU plays seems to be more of a mutant team handball played while holding a broom however. Semantics aside, the team plays in the Virginia Quidditch League and competes against teams from other schools like Virginia Tech, ODU, and VCU.
Luckily, I found a couple videos of the JMU team in action to shed some light on things. This first video is of the JMU team practicing and this second one is a profile of a recent match between VCU and JMU. Again, I’m not one to judge, but it’s impossible for anyone to watch those videos and not come to the same glaringly obvious conclusion. There isn’t any getting around it. I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, but it’s got to be said. VCU’s quidditch facilities are far superior to JMU’s. They’ve got real goal posts and everything in Richmond and all they have in Harrisonburg is a couple kids holding up laundry baskets. It’s pathetic. How is JMU even supposed to compete? And I imagine it’s only going to get worse once VCU pumps some of its Final Four money into the quidditch program.
The JMU Dukes baseball team has had plenty of highlights on the field this season. The team’s best highlight might have come last Friday at Buckland Mills Elementary School in Haymarket, Virginia however. On that day, the Dukes made a special appearance at the school to surprise 8 year old Justin Brown, a cancer survivor. The team was waiting for Justin when he entered the gym for what he thought was just a regular school assembly. As soon as he entered however, he was greeted by the team who was there to surprise him and take him on the team bus to that afternoon’s game at George Mason.
We’ve written about the Diamond Dukes special relationship with Justin before and it’s one of the things that makes us most proud to be JMU fans. Justin was diagnosed with a brain tumor when he was only 2 years old, which caused him to lose his pituatary gland and left him blind in one eye. He was connected with the baseball team 2 years ago through the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation. The Foundation supports children with brain tumors by matching them with college or high school atheltic teams for support. Justin was declared an official member of the JMU baseball team last year with a letter-of-intent signing ceremony the team held for him. Since becoming a member of the team, Justin has formed a special bond with players on the team. He got to throw out the first pitch at a game last year, has joined the team at games, and even has his own locker. His mother explained the members of the team call Justin at home and have formed special friendships with her son.
We’re constantly reminded of some of the negative aspects of sports, but that just makes stories like this one about Justin Brown and his JMU baseball teammates, that much better.
A few getaway items on hoops before we move on to silly season which this year will include covering successful baseball and lax teams headed for postseason greatness that our readers – or at least a few – will boo us for covering, offseason work for Coach L and Field Hockey, the spring football game (April 16 in Richmond), and this year’s special bracket o’ nostalgia, featuring mid-late 90’s VA local bands (yes, there may be a Full Circle sighting!).
But in the warm afterglow of another CAA Final Four run, here are some last thoughts:
1) The CAA is legit and all to all you peeps running your yaks about CUSA and the A-10, I quote our reader CoachCornell “COOL IT, bub!” A second Final Four in five years (VCU), another win (Voldemort over Villanova), and a last-second loss to one of the teams still playing (ODU) speak louder than the entire chorus of other mid-majors claiming they’re better than the old Colonial.
2) Dukes will be a prime candidate for the Ewing Theory next year! Before you all write off a Denzel-less JMU squad, just remember Brady’s been saying our best player was the one sitting out after transferring since before this season even started. If Shaka Smart (likely) or Blaine Taylor (unlikely) leave their programs, that will further shake things up.
3) We literally finished with only 4 points in Defiantly Dutch’s (hysterical and equally Mason-hating Hofstra blog) annual CBI Bracket Pool. There are four humorous items in the preceding sentence and that fact we scored a scant 4 points is the least of them.
3) Oh yeah, hope you read this far because the following tweet (follow us @jmusportsblog)made my weekend: “A new $87.5M Convocation Center is part of James Madison University’s six year capital outlay plan, released Friday at Board of Visitors meeting.” I’m just going to enjoy that and let it sink in without comment on all the rumors, naysaying, and ramifications right now. And for those of you that say it’ll never happen or that JMU isn’t thinking longer-term, bigger conference thoughts, I only offer the following picture:
Seriously, you don't want to be there to open this puppy on Sept. 10th?
p.s. DC/NoVa Coaches Caravan back at The Boulevard Woodgrill (great location from last year) coming up Wednesday, May 4th. RSVP and use PayPal (10 by May 2, 15 at door) to Laura at novadukeclub@gmail.com.
