The James Madison Dukes men's basketball team was founded in 1945, but was not a fully developed program until the late 1960s as
James Madison University became a fully coeducational institution. The 1969–1970 season was the first as a varsity intercollegiate program. The Dukes were led by Cleve Branscum during the team's first two seasons, compiling a record of 20–17. The program was guided by new Administrative Director
Dean Ehlers for the 1971–1972 season. Ehlers hired
Lou Campanelli following the season, but remained at James Madison as the A.D. until 1993.
Lou Campanelli era Taking over as the James Madison head coach in 1972, Lou Campanelli led the Dukes program for thirteen years (1972–1985). Campanelli coached the Dukes to two
NCAA Division II basketball tournaments and then three
NCAA Division I basketball tournaments after the school transitioned from Division II to Division I. In the Dukes' first ever appearance in the NCAA Division I tournament in 1981, Campanelli coached the team to a win over
Georgetown. The Dukes would win a game in each of the Dukes’ following appearances in the NCAA Division I tournament under Campanelli, and lost by two points to eventual national champions
University of North Carolina in the second round of the
1982 tournament. Lou Campanelli was hired as the head coach at
California in 1985. Campanelli finished at James Madison with a record of 238–118.
John Thurston era John Thurston was hired as the fourth head coach of the James Madison Dukes men's basketball team in 1985. Prior to this, Thurston had served as an assistant coach under Campanelli with the Dukes since 1975. Thurston successfully turned the program around in his second season at the helm, guiding the Dukes to a 20–10 record, a berth in the
National Invitation Tournament, and was named Colonial Athletic Association Coach of the Year. However, with a 6–11 start to the 1988 season, James Madison University President
Ronald E. Carrier announced that Thurston's contract would not be renewed at the end of the season and Thurston resigned hours later. The Dukes replaced Thurston with interim head coach Tom McCorry to finish the 1988 season.
Lefty Driesell era In 1988, the Dukes hired former
Davidson and
Maryland head coach Lefty Driesell to lead the program. Driesell led the Dukes for nine seasons, compiling a record of 159–111, winning 5 straight CCA regular season titles, and taking the Dukes to the NCAA tournament in 1994.
Sherman Dillard era In 1997, James Madison hired
Sherman Dillard to lead the men's basketball program. Sherman Dillard played basketball at James Madison under Lou Campanelli from 1973 to 1978. Prior to accepting the position at JMU, he had been the coach at
Indiana State. He led the Dukes through the 2004 season, guiding the program to one regular season title in 2000 and compiling a record of 93–106.
Dean Keener era The Dukes hired
Dean Keener in 2004 to be the program's next men's basketball head coach. Keener came from
Georgia Tech, where he was an assistant on the 2004 National Runner-Up team. He had also been a one time assistant coach at JMU under Sherman Dillard for the 1999–2000 season. Under Keener, the Dukes compiled a record of 31–85. During the 2008 season, Keener resigned as the head coach, but he led the team through the end of the season.
Matt Brady era James Madison hired
Matt Brady to be the head coach of the men's basketball program in 2008. In his first season, Brady led the Dukes to an 18-win regular season and earned the program's first postseason berth since 1994 in the newly created
CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. Under Brady in 2013, the Dukes won their first
CAA tournament since 1994, earning a berth in the
NCAA tournament. As a 16 seed, the Dukes defeated
Long Island in the First Four before being defeated by
Indiana in the second round. Matt Brady led the Dukes to a share of the regular season CAA title in 2015 but the Dukes did not win the CAA Tournament and were invited to the
CIT tournament. Brady was fired following the 2016 season, despite winning 21 games.
Louis Rowe era In 2016, James Madison hired JMU men's basketball alumnus and former assistant coach
Louis Rowe to be the program's tenth men's basketball coach. Rowe led the Dukes for four seasons before being let go at the end of the 2020 season. Under Rowe, the Dukes compiled a record of 43–85.
Mark Byington era In March 2020, James Madison hired
Mark Byington to lead the Dukes men's basketball team. Before coming to JMU, Byington was the head coach at
Georgia Southern. In his first season at JMU, Mark Byington lead the Dukes to a share of the regular season title, the team's first since the 2015 season. In the first season of his tenure at James Madison, the Dukes opened their new on-campus arena, the
Atlantic Union Bank Center. On December 7, 2021, Byington's Dukes defeated
Virginia for the first time in program history in front of a sold-out home crowd. The 2023–24 season started with a road wins at
Michigan State and
Kent State, both of which broke home winning streaks held by the teams. The Dukes followed up those wins with a win at home over
Howard, propelling the Dukes into the
AP Top 25 for the first time in program history. On December 9, 2023, the team broke their record for best start to a season by defeating Old Dominion University to start 9–0. After a 14–0 start to the season, the best start in program history, the Dukes dropped their first game of the season on January 6 at
Southern Miss. The Dukes won the
2024 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament, securing an automatic bid to the
2024 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. As the 12 seed in the South region, the Dukes upset 5 seed
Wisconsin in the First Round, before losing to
Duke in the Second Round. This was the first time that the Dukes advanced to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament since the
1993-94 season. The Dukes finished the 2023–24 season with a record of 32–4, the best in program history. Following the Dukes' loss in the NCAA Tournament, Mark Byington accepted the head coach position at
Vanderbilt. Byington guided the Dukes to an 82–36 record across his four seasons as head coach.
Preston Spradlin era On March 29, 2024, James Madison hired
Preston Spradlin as the new head coach of the men's basketball team. Spradlin previously led the
Morehead State Eagles for eight seasons. ==Rivalries==