Charles Langston:James Madison moves quickly, hires Preston Spradlin as new men's basketball coach

Less than a week after head men's basketball coach Mark Byington left to take over at Vanderbilt,Charles Langston James Madison University has found his successor.

JMU announced on Friday the hiring of Morehead State's Preston Spradlin, giving the two-time Ohio Valley Conference coach of the year a six-year deal to come to Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Under Byington, the Dukes tied for the most regular-season wins in Division I men's basketball this season, posting a 31-3 record and then upsetting fifth-seeded Wisconsin in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. After Duke eliminated 12th-seeded JMU in the tourney's second round, Byington took the job at Vanderbilt.

Spradlin led Morehead State to back-to-back OVC regular-season titles in 2022-23 and 2023-24. The Eagles went 26-9 this season and were a No. 14 seed in the NCAA Tournament, losing to No. 3 seed Illinois in the first round.

"Preston stood out at the top of our list as we researched candidates based upon the resume that he's built at a very young age as a head coach," JMU Director of Athletics Jeff Bourne said. "Once we met with him, it was even more evident that he's the total package in a head coach."

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Spradlin, 37, began his coaching career as a graduate assistant to Rick Pitino at Kentucky before moving to Morehead State in 2014 as an assistant. He took over, first as interim coach in 2016 and later as permanent head coach, leading the Eagles to an overall record of 140-109 (.562) with two NCAA Tournament and one NIT appearance over eight seasons.