We’re in the dog days of summer. What better time for a JMU sports mailbag?

We asked readers for questions, and you all delivered with a bunch. Let’s get right into it.

Who’s starting at TE in the fall? Men’s and women’s basketball record predictions. — Daniel Merriman

Leave it to our guy Daniel to start us off with a niche football question.

Give me Logan Kyle and Josh Phifer as my two “starting” tight ends for the Dukes. Kyle was close to a strong season in 2024, but a few drops on tough catches kept him from a bigger statistical season. He finished the year with 11 catches for 132 yards and a touchdown. The Vanderbilt transfer has great speed and is an underrated offensive weapon. I love Phifer’s potential as both a blocker and receiver and expect him to see significant snaps at the position.

As for men’s and women’s basketball record predictions, can we wait for the schedule release first? I expect both teams to top 20 wins in 2025-26, but it’ll depend largely on scheduling for how much above that number I’ll go. We like your thinking, though. We’re amped for basketball season — the women’s team should be dynamic and the men have a solid group that should defend well.

New July-Aug transfer window concerns? RB could definitely take a hit. — DukeDogsBurner

For those unaware, the NCAA instituted a one-time transfer window this summer, but it’s only for a specific criteria of player. If a player is listed as a “Designated Student-Athlete” by their respective schools, they can enter the portal. We’re simplifying this, but essentially DSAs are players who were on the verge of being cut because of new roster limits (105 players per team).

JMU’s top running backs weren’t facing the threat of being cut, so they shouldn’t be eligible to transfer.

An excerpt from a recent CBS article helps explain why this portal period is kind of irrelevant: “… the consistent expectation among CBS Sports’ front office sources is that the players that enter during this window will be walk-ons or, at best, back-end of the roster scholarship players. ‘No one of note will be entering during this window,’ a high-ranking Power Four team official said. ‘These are kids that we essentially don’t find good enough.’”

That’s harsh! But it’s accurate. No need to worry about JMU’s roster when you’re at the beach this summer.

Will JMU fans ever get out of their delusion that their teams are good? — Kyle Thomas

A question from a bonafide JMU hater. We love it.

JMU fans likely disagree with Kyle, but we’ll admit he makes an interesting point. After this past season, which included the football team going 4-4 over its final eight games after a perfect start, there were fewer “Everything School” posts from JMU fans. The men’s and women’s basketball teams both fell short of the NCAA Tournament, and the baseball and softball teams missed NCAA Regionals — the baseball team wasn’t even close. More on that later.

The Dukes are clearly an above-average Group of Five athletic department, and that was evident in 2023-24. To cement themselves atop the G5 and to be in comparison with P4 programs, especially on the football field and basketball courts, JMU needs a stronger 2025-26 to shut up Kyle Thomas and Richie Goodman.

Have y’all seen any transfer additions for baseball? All I’ve seen is some of our best guys jumping in the portal (Peifer, Logar, etc.). — Garrett Lam

We haven’t seen any JMU baseball additions yet. It’s possible players have committed quietly — this is more common in Olympic sports than football and basketball. It’s also possible JMU isn’t the most enticing destination for transfers after going 20 games below .500 this past spring.

How are we feeling about baseball, specifically Ikenberry. — DirtyBird713

Not great! But hey, I didn’t expect a 2024 Regional appearance and he proved me wrong. Let’s see how 2026 goes and make further judgments later. He’s under contract for a few more years, so there’s no immediate path away from Ike.

You get to add one high school football recruit from the past 25 years to this years recruiting class for JMU, who you taking? Can be any star level, doesn’t matter what college they ended up committing to. — Tony Staszak

It’s hard to answer this question incorrectly. I’ll take Derrick Henry.

The former Alabama running back was a high school stud before winning a Heisman Trophy. He’s now one of the best running backs in modern NFL history and a likely Hall of Famer. Can you imagine that guy against G5 defenses??

D’Angelo Ponds, Mikail Kamara and Elijah Sarratt were named to preseason All-American teams. How much does it piss you off that we lost to App State in 2023 with that talented a roster. (I’m still not over it) — Jeff Bourne’s Burner

Hahaha it depends on the day. I’m not that pissed off by the loss until I go back and watch portions of it. Go look at the second down play in overtime (if you can find it) and how wide open Sarratt is in the end zone right as Jordan McCloud inexplicably looks elsewhere. Maddening!

I’ll admit the game gives me heartburn, but for another reason.

What if JMU won? What if Jonathan Alger went through with suing the NCAA for immediate postseason eligibility? JMU’s 2023 team was the Group of Five’s best — sorry Liberty. If the Dukes were given access to the NY6 matchup against Oregon, would Curt Cignetti have remained in Harrisonburg and avoided taking the Indiana job as a result? Would Cignetti have stayed in 2024 and kept players like the trio listed above from leaving? Sources have told us that the Dukes had several NIL deals ready to be completed to keep those key guys in Harrisonburg, if Cignetti had stayed. When he left, the deals fell apart. Imagine JMU in 2024 with Cignetti, Ponds, Kamara, Sarratt, Jailin Walker, James Carpenter, Zach Horton, Aiden Fisher, etc. That group flirts with the College Football Playoff.

What if?!

More of an SBC question than a JMU question, but I’ll ask anyway since we’re all thinking about it. What team(s) would you most like to see replace Texas State, if any? — DirtyBird713

It’s a valid question and this is perhaps a hot take, but I don’t care. Well, that’s not entirely true. I prefer that the Sun Belt add quality teams, but from a JMU perspective, does it really matter?

The Dukes aren’t long for this version of the Sun Belt.

They have little to no connection to any of the teams in the West. Adding Western Kentucky instead of Louisiana Tech doesn’t change that. JMU is in the conference solely because the East is amazing.

It’s also possible — if not likely — the ACC undergoes its own implosion around 2030 when teams like Clemson, Florida State, UNC, etc. try to climb into Big Ten/SEC super conferences. So, to catch everyone up …

• The AAC (Memphis and others want out) could implode in some capacity
• CUSA teams are eager to leave their league
• Oh, and the ACC could implode

Could JMU eventually play in an east-focused conference that includes current ACC programs like Wake Forest or maybe even Virginia Tech and UVA? What about a league including the current Sun Belt East and adding teams like Charlotte, East Carolina, Temple, Army, Navy, and Delaware? Those programs carry more relevance to JMU that the current SBC West members, and the road trips are feasible (and kinda fun) compared to the current SBC West.

Maybe there’s a world where JMU even finds itself in the same basketball conference as teams like George Mason, VCU, and Richmond again. I’m hopeful geographical ties will become more relevant in the coming years, especially outside Big Ten and SEC football.

If they don’t, would JMU consider joining some sort of G5 super conference with programs like App State, ECU, Boise State, Washington State, Oregon State, Memphis, Tulane, USF, UTSA, etc.? TV money drives realignment, so don’t expect the Dukes (or any SBC team, for that matter) to be loyal if there’s a major revenue increase available elsewhere.

Realignment isn’t close to finished. The Sun Belt’s replacement choice for Texas State will probably look like small potatoes in a decade, given some of the other potentially seismic shifts.

As for JMU, just keep winning. The rest will take care of itself.

What’s the Founding Fathers realistic chances of winning a game in the TBT? How many do you think they will win? How many teams in our region are they better than? Which ones? Who wins the regional? — JMU_71

It’s hard, at least for me, to get an accurate idea of how teams in The Basketball Tournament (TBT) stack up, but the Founding Fathers look like a middle-of-the-pack group in their regional. I like their roster more than Raleigh 919 Legends and it stacks up evenly with a few others, but the Penn State and Maryland alumni teams look great on paper. The Founding Fathers probably aren’t winning their regional, but winning a game or two is possible.

The Founding Fathers have several professionals on the roster, but they also have Scooter Renkin (he’s a fundraising guru within the athletic department and former college hooper) and former walk-on Jarrell Pope on the team. There’s nothing wrong with that! But the teams legitimately fighting for the $1 million prize don’t typically use roster spots on guys without professional experience/game.

FAQ: What JMU fans should know about The Basketball Tournament (TBT)

Saw a great quote about possibly adding Liberty to the SBC — “there is no joy in beating them, only relief.” I strongly agree. Your thoughts? — Huh?

I’m largely indifferent toward Liberty but understand this sentiment. From a purely on-field perspective — Liberty likely won’t be an SBC member anytime soon because of off-the-field, let’s call them “differences,” between SBC schools and the Flames — Liberty is very good at sports. Beating the Flames is a decent athletic accomplishment, but JMU football fans have lofty expectations this fall. Fans would view it as a failure in 2025 if the Dukes fall short in Lynchburg, given the Flames’ shortcomings against top teams under Jamey Chadwell, who had those same issues at Coastal Carolina.

Predict the defensive starters for the Dukes this fall. — Zachary Baker

We gave this a shot earlier in the spring. My projections are mostly the same. Here’s what I’d guess as of July 8:

DE: Aiden Gobaira (6’5 and 250 lbs, R-SO)
DT: Immanuel Bush (6’1 and 315 lbs, R-SR)
DT: Mychal McMullin (6’1 and 285 lbs, R-SO)
DE: Xavier Holmes (6’2 and 235 lbs, R-SR)
LB: Trent Hendrick (6’0 and 231 lbs, SR)
LB: Gannon Weathersby (5’10 and 206 lbs, JR)
CB: Elijah Culp (5’11 and 190 lbs, R-SR)
Nickel: DJ Barksdale (5’9 and 177 lbs, JR)
S: Jacob Thomas (6’1 and 217 lbs, SR)
S: Curtis Harris-Lopez (6’1 and 205 lbs, R-SR)
CB: Mekhi Rodgers (6’2 and 195 lbs, SR)

Some of these are obvious — Bush, the linebackers, the safeties — but there should be fun battles at defensive end and cornerback. I also expect backups to play a good share of snaps, so guys just outside the starting group should still be impactful.

Thoughts on the VA recruits in the football team’s ‘26 class? How can the staff get VA to become a true pipeline? — Homegrown Dukes

I like JMU’s 2026 recruiting class, including the Virginia prospects. The Dukes maintain good relationships with coaches in the state, and the program has the respect of high school players.

It’s hard for any Group of Five team to dominate recruiting in a state, but the Dukes are competitive in Virginia. The issue recently when it comes to landing top-10 or even top-20 recruits in the state isn’t so much that they’re bolting toward UVA or Virginia Tech, but rather they’re leaving for Michigan, Penn State, Clemson, Maryland, and others. Penn State, in particular, has an incredible footprint in Virginia.

That’ll never change unless JMU shifts to a Power Four conference and raises its level of revenue sharing to match those elite programs. Still, JMU’s ability to bring in high-ceiling 3-star prospects from various states, including Virginia, is encouraging for the future of the program.

Photo courtesy of JMU Athletics Communications