It's hard not to compare recruiting at other mid majors who made coaching changes with JMU/Coach Byington. We are still waiting on our first commit.

UAB has two commits, Grand Canyon has a 4 start 4 year commit and a transfer (Wichita State) committed. Iona (probably not fair to compare) has several commits.

There are a lot of variables here including relative academic requirements, location of school, etc. but obviously cache of Head Coach is as big a variable as any. It's a slower gradual approach with Coach Byington and JMU. I still have faith that he will be successful and the program will do well it just doesn't lend itself to quick hits and making a splash on the recruiting trail.

Byington, and I don't know him at all, seems to be very methodical in his approach. Has he hired any staff yet? Does he have a commit yet? Been more than 3 weeks at this point. He had to drive back to JMU after his hiring announcement and he's trying to get situated, hire a staff, deal with scheduling and of course recruiting. He's also lost three guys to the transfer portal. His recruiting area is typically the Southeast, not the Mid Atlantic. Of course, he's doing this all remotely.

His approach seems to be offering players at the 1, 2 and 3 positions, perhaps realizing that players at those positions are the difference makers and that mid-major level bigs will be available going forward.

Hiring a staff will help him in all areas, of course.

Signing period starts on April 15th and according to Mettlen, he's involved with over 100 players at all levels.

Let's see what happens. The guys he's offered seem to be quality players and fit a mold of being athletic, tough and energetic. As fans, we're all anxious and we want to see some positive developments. Hopefully, that will happen soon.

(04-11-2020 11:22 AM)Dukes84 Wrote:  Byington, and I don't know him at all, seems to be very methodical in his approach. Has he hired any staff yet? Does he have a commit yet? Been more than 3 weeks at this point. He had to drive back to JMU after his hiring announcement and he's trying to get situated, hire a staff, deal with scheduling and of course recruiting. He's also lost three guys to the transfer portal. His recruiting area is typically the Southeast, not the Mid Atlantic. Of course, he's doing this all remotely.

His approach seems to be offering players at the 1, 2 and 3 positions, perhaps realizing that players at those positions are the difference makers and that mid-major level bigs will be available going forward.

Hiring a staff will help him in all areas, of course.

Signing period starts on April 15th and according to Mettlen, he's involved with over 100 players at all levels.

Let's see what happens. The guys he's offered seem to be quality players and fit a mold of being athletic, tough and energetic. As fans, we're all anxious and we want to see some positive developments. Hopefully, that will happen soon.

Every new coach has similar challenges, nothing either new or unique to our coach

(04-11-2020 03:33 PM)jmutoml757 Wrote:  

(04-11-2020 11:22 AM)Dukes84 Wrote:  Byington, and I don't know him at all, seems to be very methodical in his approach. Has he hired any staff yet? Does he have a commit yet? Been more than 3 weeks at this point. He had to drive back to JMU after his hiring announcement and he's trying to get situated, hire a staff, deal with scheduling and of course recruiting. He's also lost three guys to the transfer portal. His recruiting area is typically the Southeast, not the Mid Atlantic. Of course, he's doing this all remotely.

His approach seems to be offering players at the 1, 2 and 3 positions, perhaps realizing that players at those positions are the difference makers and that mid-major level bigs will be available going forward.

Hiring a staff will help him in all areas, of course.

Signing period starts on April 15th and according to Mettlen, he's involved with over 100 players at all levels.

Let's see what happens. The guys he's offered seem to be quality players and fit a mold of being athletic, tough and energetic. As fans, we're all anxious and we want to see some positive developments. Hopefully, that will happen soon.

Every new coach has similar challenges, nothing either new or unique to our coach

Disagree. He's dealing with the fallout from a pandemic and he has no natural recruiting ties to the Mid Atlantic.

84 in fairness Bryce Drew has no recruiting ties in the Southwest - again I have faith in Byington and his approach- I think ultimately he’ll be successful it’s just been real slow out of the gate and this team really needs a more urgent turnaround.

Drew was hired earlier than Byington.

Would think recruiting is significantly harder when assistants aren’t officially in place yet, and also no in person visits. Not sure what the portal/market looks like in terms of available players, but hopefully there is time yet.

I have noticed an uptick in JMU being mentioned in conjunction with some transfers so that may be a good sign of things to come over the next couple of weeks.

(04-11-2020 03:38 PM)Dukes84 Wrote:  Disagree. He's dealing with the fallout from a pandemic and he has no natural recruiting ties to the Mid Atlantic.

I’m speaking of the coaches hired around the same time as coach B

(04-11-2020 04:20 PM)Dukes84 Wrote:  Drew was hired earlier than Byington.

True but Byington was also an active coach Drew was in TV so Byington has a head start there. Maybe JMU is ultra conservative about recruiting ex targets while Coach B was at Ga Southern because of the whole Brady Marist thing. In hindsight Brady’s first recruiting class (a good one) for JMU was largely guys he recruited at Marist (Moore, Semenov, Wells). Those guys went on to be core pieces of the team in the years that followed.

JMU has landed UL Monroe transfer PG Jalen Hodge. Sit one, play two. Averaged 7.7 ppg, 2.2 rpg, and 1.8 apg in 24 mpg last year for UL Monroe. Byington obviously coached against him in the Sun Belt.

(04-11-2020 06:38 PM)STEELCITYBALL3R Wrote:  JMU has landed UL Monroe transfer PG Jalen Hodge. Sit one, play two. Averaged 7.7 ppg, 2.2 rpg, and 1.8 apg in 24 mpg last year for UL Monroe. Byington obviously coached against him in the Sun Belt.

Nice pickup. Hodge shot 39.1% (18-of-42) from three in 16 games last season.

(04-11-2020 06:38 PM)STEELCITYBALL3R Wrote:  JMU has landed UL Monroe transfer PG Jalen Hodge. Sit one, play two. Averaged 7.7 ppg, 2.2 rpg, and 1.8 apg in 24 mpg last year for UL Monroe. Byington obviously coached against him in the Sun Belt.

Our 1st recruit for our new basketball coach...
He's the 4th scoring option from the 247th ranked school in the country (9-20 last season).

He played 18 minutes against Byington last season in their 1st game (a hyperextended knee ended his season in early February).
Stats: 0 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 0 steals, 0 blocks, 1 turnover.

Well, I'm excited...

(04-09-2020 09:05 AM)Bawlmer Duke Wrote:  

(03-26-2020 11:08 PM)Dukes84 Wrote:  Justin Amadi, 6-7 SF from South Carolina offered.

FWIW His teammate, 6'10 Javarzia Belton, signed with Southern Miss the other day. Amadi has JMU, Southern Miss, Hofstra and UNCW in his Final Four.

JMU among finalists for Justin Amadi- also saw Coastal, Kent State and Mercer in there as well.

(04-11-2020 04:20 PM)Dukes84 Wrote:  Drew was hired earlier than Byington.

A legit excuse could be if the states of Alabama and Arizona don’t have as stringent of shelter in place rules and some Of these kids can actually visit Grand Canyon or UAB during these times when they can’t visit JMU.

Welcome Jalen.

(04-11-2020 08:57 PM)NJDuke97 Wrote:  

(04-11-2020 04:20 PM)Dukes84 Wrote:  Drew was hired earlier than Byington.

A legit excuse could be if the states of Alabama and Arizona don’t have as stringent of shelter in place rules and some Of these kids can actually visit Grand Canyon or UAB during these times when they can’t visit JMU.

NCAA hasn’t been allowing visits or any in person recruiting for quite a while now.

(04-11-2020 08:57 PM)NJDuke97 Wrote:  

(04-11-2020 04:20 PM)Dukes84 Wrote:  Drew was hired earlier than Byington.

A legit excuse could be if the states of Alabama and Arizona don’t have as stringent of shelter in place rules and some Of these kids can actually visit Grand Canyon or UAB during these times when they can’t visit JMU.

If they could visit the campus they might not have committed to GCU. Nice little campus but in one of the worst areas of Phoenix.

(04-11-2020 11:22 AM)Dukes84 Wrote:  Byington, and I don't know him at all, seems to be very methodical in his approach. Has he hired any staff yet? Does he have a commit yet? Been more than 3 weeks at this point. He had to drive back to JMU after his hiring announcement and he's trying to get situated, hire a staff, deal with scheduling and of course recruiting. He's also lost three guys to the transfer portal. His recruiting area is typically the Southeast, not the Mid Atlantic. Of course, he's doing this all remotely.

How do you know this?