LEXINGTON, Va. – After leading the men’s basketball program to its most wins in more than 40 years, James Madison head coach Mark Byington has been named the Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) State Coach of the Year, the organization announced on Wednesday afternoon.

Byington and the Dukes racked up 22 wins in JMU’s first year as part of the Sun Belt Conference, the most wins at JMU since the program record of 24 by the 1981-82 team, which was inducted as a group into the JMU Hall of Fame.

The Dukes enjoyed their third straight winning season, the first such stretch for JMU since the 1992-95 campaigns. JMU set season records for total points (2,658), total rebounds (1,257), total steals (298) and steals per game (9.03), scoring an average of 80.5 points per game, the third-highest average in JMU’s Division I history.

After three seasons in Harrisonburg, Byington owns the second-highest winning percentage (61.0%) of any men’s basketball coach in JMU history, trailing only JMU Hall of Famer Lou Campanelli. JMU also went 3-1 against in-state foes in 2022-23 and improved to 11-2 against Division I opponents from Virginia in Byington’s three-year tenure in Harrisonburg.

JMU returns the bulk of its 2022-23 roster for the 2023-24 season, having continued to build on recent success.

— JMU Athletics —