(07-02-2020 02:14 PM)JMad03 Wrote: Dave Thomas did a good interview with Coach Byington where he talked about the schedule.
He said that about 8 non-conference games were already scheduled (UVA, ODU, GMU, ECU were the ones he mentioned).
He also said he plans to have a "national schedule" and wants to play "big name teams" and challenge the players. Also said that he wanted JMU to get nationally televised games so JMU could be seen on television.
He wants scheduling at JMU to be difficult because it means teams don't want to play us. Right now he did say there were some teams that may think we are vulnerable.
He also mentioned recruiting and scheduling. Talked about the GT game and how he wants to continue to recruit down there. He also mentioned playing more OOC games in the northeast. While he did say we do play games up there for conference games, he wants more OOC games up there as well.
Really like this guy the more I hear him.
Love it. Thanks for sharing. The Atlanta area alone is loaded with talent. We aren't going to get the 4* or 5* types that come out of there in multitudes every year, but I do think we can snag a 3* or two out of there annually. It's going to take some time. If it means we schedule roadies at UGA, GT, Ga State, Mercer (just down the road in Macon), and so forth to keep exposure down there, then I think it is a great idea.
My personal hope is that we start getting in some of these higher-profile ESPN-run early season tournaments for 3 good-competition games in attractive locales and in a legit tournament format (win and advance). These games are televised, are good exposure, great for our fans to travel to, and most of all very attractive for recruiting. Of course, nobody has wanted us in those events because of the ineptitude of the program for going on 3 decades. By 2022 or 2023, hopefully we see HCMB getting the program to the point where we are playing in the Bahamas, Hawaii, or the like.
If we are going up into the Northeast above and beyond our normal CAA swings, then hopefully we are going up there to play in NYC/Brooklyn or on campus at big-name programs like Syracuse.
I like what I'm seeing and reading so far. Again with another "hopefully" Bourne and his staff who ultimately sign off on scheduling will be supportive of this vision. I'd love to one day never see us host another non-D1 opponent. Use the pre-CAA schedule for exposure and challenging the team with tough competition so when CAA play comes along it looks a bit easier. If we have to do 2- or even 3-for-1 (3 away for 1 home) to get strong name programs into H'burg, then do it.
