Loyalty goes a long way with Scott Fisher, the fourth-year coach at Northside High School in Roanoke.
Friday, May 29, 2020
With five incoming transfers, the speed with which Mark Byington and the rest of the new coaching staff at James Madison can turn around the program will depend largely on which players are eligible right away, and just how well they play once they do take the court for the Dukes.
Thursday, May 28, 2020
In the 33 years Bill Pope has coached there, a lot of outstanding high school basketball players have come out of the Roanoke area. Early this spring Pope was excited to learn two of the best he's seen where teaming up at James Madison.
Wednesday, May 27, 2020
The camaraderie and togetherness she craves is why Jona Roka ultimately decided to return.
Tuesday, May 26, 2020
The urgency didn’t go unnoticed.
Nikki Oppenheimer was an Illinois high schooler committed to Syracuse back in 2016 when she played for Puerto Rico’s under-18 national team.
Zach Horton was able to see it.
Monday, May 25, 2020
While many of its peers are making news for the wrong reasons, press releases coming out of James Madison in recent weeks have been to celebrate coaching hires or welcome back senior athletes for a fifth year.
His one-day performance last June didn’t guarantee Jasaiah Gathings anything, but it did serve as a way to introduce himself to James Madison’s coaching staff.
Sunday, May 24, 2020
The track record was attractive enough to help Mount St. Joseph (Baltimore) quarterback Billy Atkins settle confidently on his decision.
Matt Binkowski had plenty of offers to mull before this past Friday.
Friday, May 22, 2020
The Washington Nationals got tired of waiting — that is one way to look at it.
While there reports floating around about the NBA potentially using resorts such as Disney World as a way to safely resume the season, women in pro basketball are still wondering when, where and how they might get to play again.
Thursday, May 21, 2020
A lot of people look at retirement as a way to get away from the business world and onto the golf course. For James Madison men’s golf coach Jeff Forbes, it’s just the opposite.
There is plenty of inspiration to be taken from his former running mates.
On May 21, 1991, Dana Allison (JMU, Warren County) appeared in his next-to-last game in the majors. He retired one batter and gave up one hit and one run for the Oakland A’s in an 11-7 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. Mookie Wilson had three hits for Toronto.
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
James Madison announced on Wednesday dates for a few of its most anticipated games for the debut men’s and women’s basketball seasons at the Atlantic Union Bank Center.
The first few years of a nursing career have presented some unexpected challenges for Kyle Henshaw, a former All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference pitcher at Bridgewater College.
Brian O'Connor had never been to Virginia when he started driving from his native Nebraska to Harrisonburg in the spring of 1990 to play for the Turks.
Juan Pierre (Harrisonburg Turks), on May 20, 2001, was 2-for-4 with two runs and two steals for Colorado in a win over the Marlins. Pierre ended the season with a league-best 41 steals — the first of three times he led the league.
Tuesday, May 19, 2020
Editor’s note: Dave King has been the director of athletics since 2005 at Eastern Mennonite University, an original member of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC). King, a 1976 EMU graduate who played three sports in college, talked to the Daily News-Record on Tuesday about the curren…
The NCAA released the latest edition of its Division I rules manual back on Aug. 1, 2019. The 455-page document laid out the detailed and often confusing mandates from the governing body on the dos and don’ts of major college athletics.
On May 19, 1982, Harrisonburg native Alan Knicely (TA) was 1-for-3 on his 27th birthday for the Houston Astros in a 5-3 win at the Philadephia Phillies. Knicely started in right field for Houston. The starting pitcher for the Phillies was Steve Carlton — Knicely singled in the second off the…
Monday, May 18, 2020
The outbreak of COVID-19 across the United States probably cost James Madison’s women’s basketball team its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2016.
For a four-year period, Harrisonburg native Travis Harper was a durable pitcher for Tampa Bay as he averaged nearly 50 outings per season out of the bullpen.
Saturday, May 16, 2020
On May 16, 1973, Valley League Hall of Famer Johnny Oates (Virginia Tech) was 0-for-1 as a pinch-hitter for the Atlanta Braves in a 5-2 win over the Houston Astros. For the Astros, Bob Watson was 0-for-5. Watson died earlier this week at the age of 74. He was the first African-American to wi…
Friday, May 15, 2020
Editor’s note: Roanoke native Billy Sample was the first baseball player drafted out of James Madison University and the first to make it to the Major Leagues — with Texas in 1978. Outfielder and 5-foot-9 Sample ended his playing career with Atlanta in 1986, was elected to the JMU Athletic H…
With five transfers entering the James Madison men’s basketball program and six more leaving, how the NCAA decides to rule on eligibility for players leaving their previous school figures to be a hot topic around Harrisonburg.
Thursday, May 14, 2020
Pitcher Rick Croushore (JMU) made his Major League debut on May 18, 1998, for the St. Louis Cardinals in a 7-3 loss to the Marlins. He went two innings out of the bullpen and gave up two runs. The right-hander retired the first batter he faced, Todd Dunwoody, then later in the inning allowed…
Tim Taylor’s path to becoming an NCAA Division I head coach had a few more detours than he ever imagined — but patience and perseverance eventually paid off.
In one of his best games, Billy Sample (JMU, Harrisonburg Turks) was 3-for-6 with four RBIs for the Texas Rangers in a 14-11 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on May 14, 1983. He hit a three-run homer off lefty Scott McGregor. John Shelby had three hits for the Orioles — who won the World Series…
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
When Kate Gordon arrived at James Madison from nearby Page County High four years ago, it might have been too soon for Dukes coach Loren LaPorte to realize she was working with a player who would one day become one of the nation’s top outfielders and the program’s greatest slugger.
Editor’s note: Roanoke native Billy Sample was the first baseball player drafted out of James Madison University and the first to make it to the Major Leagues — with Texas in 1978. Outfielder and 5-foot-9 Sample ended his playing career with Atlanta in 1986, was elected to the JMU Athletic H…
May 13, 2008, Luke Scott (Staunton, Valley League) had three hits for the Baltimore Orioles in a 5-4 win at home over the Boston Red Sox. Scott, the DH, also drove in three.
Tuesday, May 12, 2020
The NCAA made a change last week to the way it selects teams for the Division I women’s basketball tournament. It could have huge implications for mid-major powers, but it isn’t immediately clear whether a new formula to rate teams will help or hurt teams such as James Madison.
Jolee Paden went from being a Division III runner at Eastern Mennonite University to working with Division I athletes in the nation's capital.
Monday, May 11, 2020
In less than two months on the job, new James Madison coach Mark Byington has done a lot to renew excitement around the Dukes men’s basketball program, particularly in the long term as JMU continues to add new talent.
On May 11, 1986, Billy Sample (Harrisonburg Turks, JMU) was 1-for-3 for the Atlanta Braves in a 2-1 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. The starting pitcher for the Phillies was Steve Carlton, who went five scoreless innings. The 1986 season was the last in the majors for Sample.
Sunday, May 10, 2020
The men's basketball program at James Madison got another commitment on Sunday, as guard Terrence Edwards, Jr., of Georgia, announced on social media he was headed to Harrisonburg.
Stay-at-home orders aren’t ideal for future conference combatants.
Friday, May 08, 2020
Editor’s note: Curt Kendall coached baseball at Bridgewater College for 34 years, winning 775 games and 12 Old Dominion Athletic Conference tournament titles before stepping down last year. He has been the athletic director at BC for 20 years, and for nearly two months has been leading his s…
Their schedules are usually rigid and leave little time free.
Future non-conference schedules are beginning to fill up for James Madison football.
Thursday, May 07, 2020
The James Madison men’s basketball program is forging deep ties to Mount St. Mary’s and hoops in the DMV — but right now it is a one-way street.
Editor’s note: We have begun a weekly series called Friday Flashback, as we catch up with local athletes, coaches or administrators from city/county high schools.
Editor's note: Brad Babcock, 81, was the head baseball coach at James Madison University from 1971-89 as he posted a record 555-251-4 with five trips to an NCAA tournament. His 1983 team made the College World Series - the first from Virginia to do so. Several of his players made the majors,…
On this date in 1982, Alan Knicely (Turner Ashby) drew an intentional walk for the Houston Astros in the top of the ninth against lefty Willie Hernandez of the Chicago Cubs. Knicely was batting for Denny Walling, a Valley Baseball League alum with Waynesboro. Hernandez then retired Terry Puh…
Wednesday, May 06, 2020
He hasn’t yet stepped foot in Harrisonburg, but Nahjee Adams did already experience a campus tour of James Madison.
Tuesday, May 05, 2020
It’ll always be remembered as the year cut short.
Samantha Prahalis, in the midst of a pro playing career, was a volunteer assistant basketball coach with her alma mater, Commack High, on Long Island in 2016.
