Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball at Richmond (Exh.) on October 25, 2025 at TBD
MBB
TBD
James Madison
at Richmond (Exh.)
James Madison University | Official Athletics Site
Men's Basketball
Byington, Mark
Mark Byington
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- brow28@jc@jmu.edu
- Phone:
- 540-568-6513
In his first three seasons at the helm of James Madison Men's Basketball, Mark Byington has immediately reinvigorated the program in Harrisonburg, opening his JMU career with three straight winning seasons, marking the first time the program put together three such campaigns since 1992-95.
The 2022-23 campaign, JMU's first as a member of the Sun Belt Conference, saw the Dukes rack up 22 wins on the season, their most since the 1981-82 edition posted the program record of 24. JMU set season records for total points (2,658), total rebounds (1,257), total steals (298) and steals per game (9.03), while the Dukes' scoring average of 80.5 points per game was the third-highest in their Division I history.
Prior to the season, Byington was named the Best X-and-O Coach in the Sun Belt Conference by the coaches in the league, the same league he previous coached in at Georgia Southern. JMU's performance in 2022-23 gives him an 82-50 conference record across his seven seasons in the league - the second-best mark of all the head coaches in the Sun Belt.
Byington has won at least 10 league games in all seven SBC campaigns, the only coach in the league with more than one season at the helm to accomplish that feat. He currently has the second-highest winning percentage (61.0%) of any men's basketball coach in JMU history, trailing only JMU Hall of Famer Lou Campanelli.
The Dukes also finished inside the NCAA NET/RPI top 100 for the first time since 2010-11 and went 3-1 against in-state foes on the year, improving to 10-3 against Division I opponents from Virginia in Byington's three-year tenure.
The 2021-22 season, Byington’s second year with the Dukes, saw him lead JMU to a 15-14 mark while overcoming unprecedented obstacles. Despite the CAA presidents voting to ban JMU from the league’s tournament prior to the season, the Dukes won nine of their first 11 games - the program’s best start since the 1986-87 season - including a historic victory at home over in-state power Virginia in front of 8,439 fans, the largest crowd to ever attend a basketball game in Harrisonburg.
In just his first season in Harrisonburg, Byington made an incredible impact on the program, taking a team that was picked to finish ninth in the CAA Preseason Poll and leading it through a challenging logistical season to the ninth regular season title in program history and first No. 1 seed in the CAA Tournament since 1992-93.
Byington led the Dukes to the 2020-21 Colonial Athletic Association Regular Season Championship and was named CAA Coach of the Year, NABC District 10 Coach of the Year and a finalist for the Hugh Durham Award, presented annually to the top Division I mid-major coach in college basketball.
The improvement from 2019-20 to 2020-21 marked the first time a team has gone from last place to first place in the CAA since Richmond accomplished the feat in the 1982-83 and 1983-84 seasons - the first of which was done when the league was still known as the ECAC South.
Byington quickly built a fast-paced JMU offense that paced the CAA in scoring during the regular season at 78.5 points per game while racking up a +8.1 scoring margin, nearly four points ahead of the closest team. The Dukes got it done on both ends of the court, holding opponents to a 41.4% field goal percentage on defense, the best mark in the league.
A native of Salem, Va., Byington returned to the Commonwealth after seven years at the helm of the Georgia Southern men's basketball program, where he led the Eagles to a 131-97 record. He was also the first GSU coach to win 20 or more games in three consecutive seasons - his final three in Statesboro - in more than 30 years.
Under Byington's leadership, Georgia Southern racked up 13 all-conference selections, including Tookie Brown, who was the first Sun Belt Player of the Year in program history in 2019 and was the first player in league history to take home four First Team All-Sun Belt nods. Byington departs GSU with the highest winning percentage in conference games of any active Sun Belt head coach.
Prior to his arrival, the Eagles had produced a winning season just once in seven years. In the seven years since, Byington has presided over excellence both on and off the court, notching six winning campaigns and averaging nearly 12 league wins per season while posting a 100 percent graduation rate and recording the 10 highest team grade point averages in program history across the last five years.
Before earning his first full-time head coaching job in Statesboro, Byington spent seven years as the top assistant coach at College of Charleston under legendary head coach Bobby Cremins. He was also named interim head coach for the last month of the 2011-12 campaign when Cremins took a leave of absence, guiding the Cougars to a 7-4 record in their final 11 games.
All told, Charleston posted a 194-100 record while Byington was in the Lowcountry, including a 108-51 mark in Southern Conference contests. The Cougars notched six 20-win seasons in his nine years, adding three SoCon regular season championships along the way.
Byington began his collegiate basketball journey in the Colonial Athletic Association, where he starred for Head Coach Jerry Wainwright at UNCW before embarking on his coaching career. He was a three-year starter for the Seahawks, scoring 1,088 career points on his way to two CAA All-Academic selections, as well as Second Team All-CAA and CAA All-Defensive Team honors as a senior. He earned his bachelor's degree in physical education from UNCW in 1998.
No stranger to coaching in Virginia, Byington started his coaching career at national powerhouse Hargrave Military Academy, while also making later stops at both Virginia Tech and Virginia, where he earned his master's degree in sport psychology in 2003.
Prior to college, Byington was a standout at Salem High School, where he was named State Player of the Year as a senior while leading Salem to a state championship. He also picked up honorable mention All-America honors and was named First Team All-State twice. Following his senior season, he was named MVP of the Virginia High School League All Star Game.
The 2022-23 campaign, JMU's first as a member of the Sun Belt Conference, saw the Dukes rack up 22 wins on the season, their most since the 1981-82 edition posted the program record of 24. JMU set season records for total points (2,658), total rebounds (1,257), total steals (298) and steals per game (9.03), while the Dukes' scoring average of 80.5 points per game was the third-highest in their Division I history.
Prior to the season, Byington was named the Best X-and-O Coach in the Sun Belt Conference by the coaches in the league, the same league he previous coached in at Georgia Southern. JMU's performance in 2022-23 gives him an 82-50 conference record across his seven seasons in the league - the second-best mark of all the head coaches in the Sun Belt.
Byington has won at least 10 league games in all seven SBC campaigns, the only coach in the league with more than one season at the helm to accomplish that feat. He currently has the second-highest winning percentage (61.0%) of any men's basketball coach in JMU history, trailing only JMU Hall of Famer Lou Campanelli.
The Dukes also finished inside the NCAA NET/RPI top 100 for the first time since 2010-11 and went 3-1 against in-state foes on the year, improving to 10-3 against Division I opponents from Virginia in Byington's three-year tenure.
The 2021-22 season, Byington’s second year with the Dukes, saw him lead JMU to a 15-14 mark while overcoming unprecedented obstacles. Despite the CAA presidents voting to ban JMU from the league’s tournament prior to the season, the Dukes won nine of their first 11 games - the program’s best start since the 1986-87 season - including a historic victory at home over in-state power Virginia in front of 8,439 fans, the largest crowd to ever attend a basketball game in Harrisonburg.
In just his first season in Harrisonburg, Byington made an incredible impact on the program, taking a team that was picked to finish ninth in the CAA Preseason Poll and leading it through a challenging logistical season to the ninth regular season title in program history and first No. 1 seed in the CAA Tournament since 1992-93.
Byington led the Dukes to the 2020-21 Colonial Athletic Association Regular Season Championship and was named CAA Coach of the Year, NABC District 10 Coach of the Year and a finalist for the Hugh Durham Award, presented annually to the top Division I mid-major coach in college basketball.
The improvement from 2019-20 to 2020-21 marked the first time a team has gone from last place to first place in the CAA since Richmond accomplished the feat in the 1982-83 and 1983-84 seasons - the first of which was done when the league was still known as the ECAC South.
Byington quickly built a fast-paced JMU offense that paced the CAA in scoring during the regular season at 78.5 points per game while racking up a +8.1 scoring margin, nearly four points ahead of the closest team. The Dukes got it done on both ends of the court, holding opponents to a 41.4% field goal percentage on defense, the best mark in the league.
A native of Salem, Va., Byington returned to the Commonwealth after seven years at the helm of the Georgia Southern men's basketball program, where he led the Eagles to a 131-97 record. He was also the first GSU coach to win 20 or more games in three consecutive seasons - his final three in Statesboro - in more than 30 years.
Under Byington's leadership, Georgia Southern racked up 13 all-conference selections, including Tookie Brown, who was the first Sun Belt Player of the Year in program history in 2019 and was the first player in league history to take home four First Team All-Sun Belt nods. Byington departs GSU with the highest winning percentage in conference games of any active Sun Belt head coach.
Prior to his arrival, the Eagles had produced a winning season just once in seven years. In the seven years since, Byington has presided over excellence both on and off the court, notching six winning campaigns and averaging nearly 12 league wins per season while posting a 100 percent graduation rate and recording the 10 highest team grade point averages in program history across the last five years.
Before earning his first full-time head coaching job in Statesboro, Byington spent seven years as the top assistant coach at College of Charleston under legendary head coach Bobby Cremins. He was also named interim head coach for the last month of the 2011-12 campaign when Cremins took a leave of absence, guiding the Cougars to a 7-4 record in their final 11 games.
All told, Charleston posted a 194-100 record while Byington was in the Lowcountry, including a 108-51 mark in Southern Conference contests. The Cougars notched six 20-win seasons in his nine years, adding three SoCon regular season championships along the way.
Byington began his collegiate basketball journey in the Colonial Athletic Association, where he starred for Head Coach Jerry Wainwright at UNCW before embarking on his coaching career. He was a three-year starter for the Seahawks, scoring 1,088 career points on his way to two CAA All-Academic selections, as well as Second Team All-CAA and CAA All-Defensive Team honors as a senior. He earned his bachelor's degree in physical education from UNCW in 1998.
No stranger to coaching in Virginia, Byington started his coaching career at national powerhouse Hargrave Military Academy, while also making later stops at both Virginia Tech and Virginia, where he earned his master's degree in sport psychology in 2003.
Prior to college, Byington was a standout at Salem High School, where he was named State Player of the Year as a senior while leading Salem to a state championship. He also picked up honorable mention All-America honors and was named First Team All-State twice. Following his senior season, he was named MVP of the Virginia High School League All Star Game.
| Coaching Timeline |
|---|
| 1999-2001 | Graduate Manager, Virginia |
| 2001-02 | Assistant Coach, Hargrave Military Academy |
| 2002-04 | Assistant Coach, College of Charleston |
| 2004-05 | Director of Operations, Virginia |
| 2005-12 | Assistant Coach, College of Charleston |
| 2012 (11 Games) | Interim Head Coach, College of Charleston |
| 2012-13 | Assistant Coach, Virginia Tech |
| 2013-20 | Head Coach, Georgia Southern |
| 2020-Present | Head Coach, James Madison |
| Playing Experience |
|---|
| 1994-1998 | UNCW |
| Head Coaching Records |
|---|
| All-Time Record | 188-133 (.587) - 10 seasons (108-77 in league games) |
| Season | School | Record | Postseason |
| 2011-12 | Col. of Charleston (interim HC) | 7-4 (6-3) | Southern Conference First Round |
| 2013-14 | Georgia Southern | 15-19 (6-10) | Southern Conference Semifinals |
| 2014-15 | Georgia Southern | 22-9 (14-6) | Sun Belt Finals |
| 2015-16 | Georgia Southern | 14-17 (10-10) | Sun Belt First Round |
| 2016-17 | Georgia Southern | 18-15 (11-7) | Sun Belt QF | CBI First Round |
| 2017-18 | Georgia Southern | 21-12 (11-7) | Sun Belt Semifinals |
| 2018-19 | Georgia Southern | 21-12 (12-6) | Sun Belt Semifinals |
| 2019-20 | Georgia Southern | 20-13 (12-8) | Sun Belt Finals (canceled due to COVID-19) |
| Georgia Southern Record | 131-97 (.757) - Seven seasons |
| 2020-21 | James Madison | 13-7 (8-2) | CAA First Round |
| 2021-22 | James Madison | 15-14 (6-12) | Banned from tournament by league vote |
| 2022-23 | James Madison | 22-11 (12-6) | Sun Belt Semifinals |
| James Madison Record | 50-32 (.610) - Three seasons |
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