List of James Madison Dukes men's basketball head coaches

Last updated June 12, 2025

The following is a list of James Madison Dukes men's basketball head coaches. There have been 11 head coaches of the Dukes in their 54-season history.^[1]

James Madison's current head coach is Mark Byington. He was hired as the Dukes' head coach in March 2020,^[2] replacing Louis Rowe, who was fired after the 2019–20 season.^[3]

No.	Tenure	Coach	Years	Record	Pct.
1	1969–1971	Charles Branscom	2	20–17	.541
2	1971–1972	Dean Ehlers	1	16–7	.696
3	1972–1985	Lou Campanelli	13	238–118	.669
4	1985–1988^[a]	John Thurston	3	31–44	.413
5	1988*	Tom McCorry	1	4–7	.364
6	1988–1997	Lefty Driesell	9	159–111	.589
7	1997–2004	Sherman Dillard	7	93–106	.467
8	2004–2008	Dean Keener	4	31–85	.267
9	2008–2016	Matt Brady	8	139–127	.523
10	2016–2020	Louis Rowe	4	34–64	.347
11	2020–present	Mark Byington	3	50–32	.610
Totals		11 coaches	54 seasons	815–718	.532
Records updated through end of 2022–23 season * - Denotes interim head coach. Source^[1]

↑ Thurston resigned in January 1988. Tom McCorry served as interim head coach for the remainder of the 1987–88 season.^[4]

References

1 2 "2022-23 James Madison Men's Basketball Prospectus" (PDF). James Madison Athletics. p. 21. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
↑ "JMU hires Georgia Southern's Mark Byington as men's basketball coach". The Virginian-Pilot . March 20, 2020. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
↑ "James Madison parts ways with Louis Rowe after 4 seasons". ESPN.com . March 9, 2020. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
↑ "James Madison basketball coach John Thurston resigned Friday hours..." UPI.com. January 29, 1988. Retrieved March 16, 2023.

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[ThurstonMcCorry-5] Thurston resigned in January 1988. Tom McCorry served as interim head coach for the remainder of the 1987–88 season.^[4]

[RecordBook-1] 1 2 "2022-23 James Madison Men's Basketball Prospectus" (PDF). James Madison Athletics. p. 21. Retrieved March 16, 2023.

[2] "JMU hires Georgia Southern's Mark Byington as men's basketball coach". The Virginian-Pilot . March 20, 2020. Retrieved March 16, 2023.

[3] "James Madison parts ways with Louis Rowe after 4 seasons". ESPN.com . March 9, 2020. Retrieved March 16, 2023.

[4] "James Madison basketball coach John Thurston resigned Friday hours..." UPI.com. January 29, 1988. Retrieved March 16, 2023.

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