College Hoops Top 50

Last Year: 32-4; 15-3, Second in the Sun Belt & conference tournament champions, lost in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament

Head Coach: Preston Spradlin (First Year; had been 140-109 in eight years at Morehead State, with two NCAA Tournament appearances)

Projected Starting Lineup

PG Mark Freeman – 5’11”, 170 5th-year Senior

G Noah Williams – 6’5″, 195 5th-year Senior

W Justin Taylor – 6’6″, 218 Junior

F Eddie Ricks III – 6’7″, 205 Sophomore

C Elijah Hutchins-Everett – 6’11”, 255 Senior

Experienced Reserves

G Xavier Brown – 6’2″, 170 Junior

W Will Lovings-Watts – 6’5″, 200 Sophomore

F AJ Smith – 6’6″, 215 Junior

F Luke Anderson – 6’7″, 225 5th-year Senior

F/C Jerrell Roberson – 6’9″, 225 Junior

F/C Ebenezer Dowuona – 6’11”, 230 5th-year Senior

Freshmen

G Damon ‘Redd’ Thompson – 6’0″, 172

G Bryce Lindsay – 6’3″, 190 (Redshirt)

F Matt Hain – 6’7″, 215 (Redshirt)

It’s going to be tough to top the run that James Madison University went on last winter. They tipped off the regular season with a landmark win at the Breslin Center which captured the attention of everyone who cares about college hoops. They took an undefeated record into January, beat MAC tourney champ Akron in a great late-season matchup, blitzed their way to a Sun Belt Conference tournament title, and then romped all over Wisconsin on their way to an NCAA Tournament victory. 

It was an incredible, exhilarating, program-defining season. And almost everyone who had much to do with it has gone. 

So, obviously, the Dukes are on the shortlist of favorites to win the Fun Belt all over again this March. Wait, what?

This year’s team is going to look a whole lot different, but the Dukes will be talented and led by experienced winners, nonetheless. It starts at the top, where JMU’s administration looks to have made a home-run hire by adding former Morehead State coach Preston Spradlin. Across the past four years, Spradlin led the Eagles to 94 wins, two regular season Ohio Valley Conference titles, two OVC tourney crowns, and a pair of appearances in the NCAA Tournament. He knows winning, he knows about sustaining success, and with Spradlin at the helm, the Dukes are ready to keep on riding high. 

To lead this new crew, Spradlin has brought in a guy who spent his last season playing for him – and winning OVC Player of the Year, to boot. Mark Freeman may have missed last winter’s campaign at Morehead State due to injury, but that didn’t prevent him from being courted by a bunch of high major programs in the transfer portal this spring. He’s started 80 collegiate games, knows what his once-and-future coach demands, and Freeman is sure to immediately re-up the Dukes on exciting guard play. A playmaker who can really score, Freeman averaged 15.0 points and 3.7 assists the last time he took the floor for Spradlin. With slippery quickness and an aggressive approach, the wiry-strong Freeman gets to wherever on the floor he wants to go. He knocked down a career-best 55 triples (at a 36.2% clip) two years back, continuing a steady trend of improvement from the land of trey as his career has gone on. Also important to a Dukes team which occasionally struggled to put away opponents from the foul line, Freeman has made a terrific 83.3% of the many free throw attempts he’s earned over the years. 

“We are excited to welcome Mark to JMU to play his final year of college basketball!” Spradlin enthused upon Freeman’s pledge to the Dukes. “He brings a wealth of experience both as an elite player and leader of a championship program. He is a dynamic guard who can take over games with his scoring and passing.” With the reliability of Freeman running point, JMU’s other players will slot into their roles more easily. Morehead State played faster last year than they generally had with Freeman at the controls, and it will be interesting to find out how much Spradlin looks to have his veteran ballhandlers push the pace this winter, especially if buckets are tough to come by for stretches. 

With the top seven scorers gone from last year’s squad, Spradlin knew that he needed to bring in some firepower. Enter Noah Williams, a former All-Pac 12 scorer who missed more than a year of game action while rehabilitating an injury he suffered at Washington. Over the parts of four seasons he’s been healthy for, Williams has averaged 25.6 minutes and 9.7 points per game, and he should put up similar numbers – or better – for the Dukes. Something that Williams will be hoping to show improvement on is his outside jumper. Though he made 37.9% of his triples during a breakout sophomore campaign which saw him post 14.1 points per contest, Williams carries a 30.7% rate for his career and his season marks have ranged all over the place. That streakiness has led to a 36.9% overall shooting mark for his career, and JMU will need a bit more consistency this year. A solid passer and slippery scorer off the bounce, Williams also functions smoothly as a secondary facilitator. Being that both Freeman and Williams are extra-eligibility veterans, they’ll be looking to end their careers on a high note and keep JMU on a winning path. 

Spradlin knows that his first JMU squad is going to need to D-up in order to stay atop their league, and that’s just fine, because playing tough, team-oriented defense was one of the hallmarks of his program at Morehead State. It will surely help, then, to have one of the best defenders back from last year’s team. By playing smart, winning ball, sophomore Xavier Brown became one of the Dukes’ most valuable players last season. Now a hardened veteran who has seen what it takes to earn net clippings, Brown will give Spradlin a spearhead for the perimeter defense. 

A Virginia native who played some his best ball late last season, Brown uses great quickness, anticipation, and flat-out hustle to keep the opposition uncomfortable whenever possible. He’s excellent at deflecting the ball away from his man, and by jumping into passing lanes aggressively, Brown forces opponents to attempt higher-risk plays. Often last year, those types of plays turned into live-ball turnovers and, ultimately, transition opportunities which JMU cashed in. Spradlin wants to see more where that came from, and as such, Brown can be an equalizer in close matches. The Dukes needed all of his 11 points and three steals to beat Texas State in the Sun Belt semifinals, and Brown’s 21 points (including five triples) and 10 boards were instrumental in JMU’s conference title game victory over Arkansas State. Though his scoring was sporadic on a team that had other options, Brown – who made 42 triples at a 33.9% rate – will hope to find more consistency this year. 

New to Harrisonburg, VA, Eddie Ricks III brings a bunch more of the defensive acumen that Spradlin expects. Springy, quick, and long-armed, Ricks has the size and mobility to be a serious problem for the Dukes’ opponents. During his freshman year at Morehead State, Ricks led the Eagles in blocked shots, enthusiastically chased down every loose ball he could get a finger on, and flashed some tantalizing potential as a scorer. He ended up averaging more than 25 minutes per game for the OVC champions, and now, Spradlin is expecting the young forward to become an indispensable piece for JMU. 

“Coming from Morehead State, he will bring with him some of the championship culture,” Spradlin said of Ricks this spring. “Eddie is just scratching the surface on his development as a player.” As a defender who can guard forwards, wings, and some guards, Ricks can bother a variety of different scorers depending on who his team is playing. With guys like Brown, Freeman, and Ricks under Spradlin’s direction, the freneticism of JMU’s defense will continue. The younger guys will earn the minutes to figure it all out offensively by giving their all at the other end of the court, and they should keep the Dukes in it against good teams. 

With the defense coming together and perimeter scoring taken care of, there remain just a couple of questions for James Madison. Where will the post scoring come from, and does the team have a rim protector at the back end? Spradlin and his staff have added a pair of veteran big men with high major experience, and if both of them deliver on the flashes they’ve previously shown, each question will have its answer. 

Five Stats Which Tell The Tale (with national ranks)

81.9 – Points Per Game (16th)

70.0 – Free Throw Percentage (271st)

+11.9 – Average Score Margin (11th)

3.0 – Blocks Per Game (225th)

8.8 – Steals Per Game (15th)

Former OVC Rookie of the Year Elijah Hutchins-Everett is plenty familiar to Spradlin already. Though he played closer to home at Seton Hall last winter, Hutchins-Everett had spent the first two seasons of his career at Austin Peay. There, Spradlin’s Eagles had the displeasure of trying to guard the All-OVC standout. Now, Spradlin is happy to have the big, wide, smooth-operating pivot on his side for a change. 

“Elijah is one of the more skilled big men that we have seen in recent years,” Spradlin remarked this spring. “We competed against Elijah when he was the freshman of the year in the OVC and are excited for the opportunity to coach and develop his already talented abilities. He will give us a strong inside presence to balance out the talented group of perimeter players in place.” With soft hands and good feet around the cup, Hutchins-Everett converts a high percentage of his looks inside. While a Governor, Hutchins-Everett averaged 11.9 points and 6.1 rebounds on 49.4% shooting; and he can step out to hit three-balls, too. Though he made just 28.6% of his triple tries with Seton Hall, Hutchins-Everett has made 38 career treys, and can present an inside-out matchup problem for plenty of other bigs. 

Former NC State and Georgia Tech post Ebenezer Dowuona has shown the ability to be an effective interior defender and shot-swatter, and now Spradlin is hoping to get 20 minutes per game of steady production out of the rangy big man. The fifth-year senior from Ghana enjoyed his best season as a sophomore, starting 27 games for the Wolfpack while finishing fourth in the ACC with 1.7 blocks per game. He’s never been a primary offensive threat, but Dowuona knows how to throw down; 30% of his career made field goals have been dunks. If he can keep on finishing good feeds, hit the glass (Dowuona holds a strong 8.2% career offensive rebounding rate), and keep on emphatically deterring shot attempts in close, Spradlin & Co will be well-pleased with Dowuona’s contributions. 

Syracuse import Justin Taylor adds even more ACC experience. The third-year wing started 34 games and averaged more than 20 minutes per contest over the past two seasons for the Orange, and should fit in a variety of lineups for JMU. Long a solid shooter, Taylor endured a significantly less consistent season from long range as his minutes increased last winter, a frustrating turn for the well-rounded Virginia native. Taylor was willing to tussle with bigger players around the painted area at Syracuse, and though he’s not exactly an enforcer, that experience will serve him well in a transition to the Fun Belt. If he can keep making smart passes and hit a few more triples, Taylor is likely to keep right on playing a key role for his new team. JMU has also added Will Lovings-Watts, who spent his freshman year at Northern Illinois. He’s got good size and defensive instincts on the wing, and should develop into another solid defender who can cover up or down the opposing lineup. 

He had to bide his time as a freshman, but the experience paid off last year as sophomore forward AJ Smith broke out for Southern Indiana. Now, he’s made the trip to Harrisonburg, where Spradlin is expecting Smith’s toughness and tenacity to be a significant asset. Though he doesn’t have prototype size, Smith has a nose for the ball inside. He ranked fourth in the OVC with 8.8 rebounds per game last year, and his 67 offensive boards (sixth in the league) led to a team-high 25 putback stabs. He can hang against bigger players as a small-ball power forward, and Smith can overpower guys who don’t have a size advantage on him. Not afraid to shoot it from deep, Smith’s jumper can be an asset, but his 30 triples last year came at just a 27.5% rate. If Taylor and Smith can shoot efficiently when they decide to launch, it will greatly help to steady the JMU offense. 

Five Out-of-Conference Games to Keep an Eye on

@ Wake Forest – December 17

vs George Mason – November 29

@ Towson – November 16

vs Ohio – November 4

N UC San Diego/La Salle – November 22

Another guy who can really shoot the rock is Luke Anderson, a forward who’s coming up from Division II after being named a third-team All-American at that level. He had a cup of coffee at Iowa State and then South Florida to begin his career, then moved down and became a star at Florida Southern. Last winter he hit 83 triples, and Anderson was a 40.4% career shooter from distance for the Mocs. He developed into a versatile offensive player, too; Anderson passes at a high level and grew as an interior scorer over his years at Florida Southern. If he can bring those talents confidently to bear for the Dukes, Spradlin’s post depth will be enhanced. Jerrell Roberson is also back after playing a deep reserve role a year ago, and he will hope to add more physicality and some rim protection. 

There are freshmen coming aboard who will vie for minutes, too. Combo guard Bryce Lindsey and Australian forward Matt Hain both redshirted last season, at Texas A&M and Morehead State, respectively. Each will get a chance to carve out a role with all of the shuffling ahead of them, but each is something of a wildcard at this point. Plenty will be expected from Virginia prep star Damon ‘Redd’ Thompson, who arrives from powerhouse John Marshall high school. He can get all sorts of buckets, distributes smartly, and despite a lack of great size, Thompson is fearless. 

The Dukes have stacked up some quality competition in their non-conference schedule, as befits a defending champion and NCAA Tournament representative. They’ll tip off against MAC favorites Ohio, face George Mason, participate in the first-ever Boardwalk Battle in Daytona Beach, and travel to Wake Forest. If JMU can pick up some wins in those games, they’ll be looking good for Sun Belt play. 

So much has changed that predicting exactly who will do what is tough, but Spradlin and his staff have added enough talent to put a contender together. The fact that JMU’s defensive reputation will remain is an important advantage to lean on. As these new Dukes come together, they will generate more and more excitement, and should get back into the thick of their conference race fairly quickly. Despite all that’s been lost from last year’s breakthrough, the future in Harrisonburg is bright.