Cloudy early with thunderstorms developing later in the day. Warm. High 78F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%..
Rain showers early with overcast skies late. Low 57F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%.
Updated: May 6, 2024 @ 1:39 am
Former Morehead State guard Mark Freeman (0) drives the ball around the defense of Indiana guard Jalen Hood-Schifino (1) during the first half of a game in 2022.
Former Morehead State guard Mark Freeman (0) drives the ball around the defense of Indiana guard Jalen Hood-Schifino (1) during the first half of a game in 2022.
With the transfer portal now closed, James Madison’s rebuilt roster is coming together under new Dukes coach Preston Spradlin with some firm knowledge of who is coming back and who is out there in the portal looking for a home.
Despite having already secured announced commitments from six transfers and one high school recruit, JMU still has spots to fill with nine scholarships accounted for and four more available to hand out. That includes two returning scholarship players from the Dukes 2023-24 Sun Belt Conference championship team that went 32-4 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Rising junior point guard Xavier Brown is back after moving into the starting lineup midway through last season and averaging 6.3 points, 2.6 rebounds and two assists per game, including a 21-point, 10-rebound performance in the Sun Belt title game.
Joining him in the backcourt is incoming freshman point guard Redd Thompson, a three-star recruit from Richmond’s John Marshall High School as well as a pair of 6-6 transfers who could play both the two guard and small forward positions.
Syracuse transfer Justin Taylor, a Charlottesville native, is heading back to Virginia after two seasons with the Orange. He started every game last season averaging four points and five rebounds but found himself playing out of position at the power forward spot most of the season. Taylor’s shooting numbers dipped a bit as a sophomore, but he shot 40 percent from 3-point range as a freshman.
Southern Indiana swingman AJ Smith will join the Dukes after averaging 13.7 points and 8.8 rebounds this past season. Smith shot 41 percent from the field, but just 27 percent from 3-point range, but poses potential matchup problems with his ability to go inside and out.
In the frontcourt, Spradlin added a pair of 6-11 transfers from high-major programs in Ebe Dowuona and Elijah Hutchins-Everett. Dowuona played at both North Carolina State and Georgia Tech but battled injuries with the Yellow Jackets last season. As a sophomore at NC State, Dowuona started 27 games and averaged four points, four rebounds and nearly two blocks per game.
Hutchins-Everett also missed some time with injuries last season at Seton Hall where he averaged 3.5 points. Before that, Hutchins-Everett played two seasons at Austin Peay where he averaged 12 points and six rebounds and was the Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Year in 2022.
The Dukes also return rising junior Jerell Roberson, a 6-9 post player who saw limited action in his first two years at JMU but could provide depth down low.
The frontcourt also now features a pair of versatile forwards capable of stretching the floor. Morehead State transfer Eddie Ricks III was the first to commit to JMU after Spradlin’s hire, following the coach and his staff from Morehead. Ricks, at 6-8, averaged 7.5 points and 5.3 rebounds as a freshman and was also an effective shot blocker for the Eagles.
JMU also picked up Division II All-American Luke Anderson, a graduate transfer from Florida Southern. Anderson averaged nearly 20 points and eight rebounds last season and the 6-8 sharpshooter can play around the rim, but also hit 40 percent from 3-point range last season.
What the Dukes do with the remaining scholarships could determine if JMU enters 2024-25 as the favorites to repeat as Sun Belt champs. JMU remains a front-runner to land high school power forward Keitenn Bristow out of Holliday, Texas.
Bristow, a 6-8 power forward ranked the No. 13 player in the Lone Star State by 247Sports, plays a similar style to Anderson as well as former JMU forward Julien Wooden, who finished his Dukes career in March as the program’s winningest all-time player.
JMU also remains in the hunt for dynamic guard Mark Freeman, who missed all of last season at Morehead State with an injury but was previously the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year.
Freeman, a 5-10 playmaker who averaged 15 points and 3.7 assists for Morehead State in 2022-23, has visited JMU, Wisconsin, Auburn and his hometown Memphis. He has yet to make a decision and it appears USC is now in the mix, but sources said following Spradlin to JMU remains a possibility.
An interesting late addition to the portal is another Morehead State transfer, Jordan Lathon. Lathon, a 6-5 guard, averaged 15.6 points and six rebounds for the Eagles last season earning first-team All-Ohio Valley honors.
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