Completed Event: Women's Basketball versus George Mason on November 6, 2025 , Loss , 57, to, 72
WBB
Final
James Madison
57
vs George Mason
72
James Madison University | Official Athletics Site
How will the House Settlement Reshape JMU Athletics?
6/17/2025 9:42:00 AM | Administration
NOTE: This is the second in a series of communications regarding JMU's plans to successfully evolve in the new environment of college athletics. Part one was posted on June 10.
Settlement of the NCAA vs. House court case will alter operations for every college athletics program in the country, as teased in an initial message from JMU Athletics earlier in the week. But what exactly will that mean for the JMU Dukes, who have enjoyed a 10-year rise in brand visibility and national achievement with a reclassification to the NCAA FBS level?
Behind the scenes, JMU Athletics administration has worked diligently for over a year as the scope of the settlement came into clearer view to ensure that the ramifications on JMU Athletics would not hinder the progress of decades of rise, but rather that the department would be positioned to thrive in the new landscape.
A key thread of the settlement is the ability for student-athletes to enjoy direct financial benefits in the form of Name, Image & Likeness. Thanks to the Honors1 program and the Dukes Exchange, those opportunities are in place at JMU.
James Madison has lauded itself as a department that experiences broad-based success across all 18 of its sport programs. Given this history and identity, it was critical for the department that the new approach not force any program to take a step back in order to boost another program forward. To this end, the department has striven to equip each program with the resources to be situated as a top program in their respective conferences and parallel with the top peer programs nationally in each sport.
People are critical to the success of JMU Athletics, so it was imperative to protect people at all costs. As JMU navigates the financial impact of the settlement, it has been able to do so without impacting one job within the department or by removing participation opportunities beyond what may have been dictated by terms of the settlement and Title IX.
That said, the financial implications of the settlement are real. The days of scholarship limits are gone from NCAA vernacular. Instead, each sport now has roster limits outlined by the settlement, with the ability to fund scholarships to that maximum number of roster spots. For some sports, such as baseball, lacrosse and softball, the allowable number of scholarships jumps significantly.
JMU's strategy for scholarship distribution allows the department to grow with the addition of a minimum of 15 additional total scholarships in 2025-2026. That figure could continue to adjust each year up to the roster limits, as resources allow. This scholarship increase, combined with direct financial benefits for revenue generating activities, creates a multimillion-dollar budget impact for JMU in 2025-2026.
JMU has finalized its roster number for each sport for 2025-2026. Coaches in each sport have been equipped with this number for months and have been building next year's rosters with this new number in mind.
2025-2026 JMU Athletics Roster Numbers
Men's Sports
Baseball – 34
Basketball – 15
Football – 105
Golf – 9
Soccer – 28
Tennis – 10
Women's Sports
Basketball – 15
Field Hockey – 25
Golf – 7
Lacrosse – 36
Soccer – 27
Softball – 25
Swimming & Diving – 28
Tennis – 8
Volleyball – 15
Indoor Track – 40
Outdoor Track – 40
Cross Country – 15
These roster numbers could see some slight adjustment for various reasons, such as the department awaiting final clarification from the settlement on grandfathering of student-athletes who were on rosters during the previous academic year.
Note that the House Settlement does not remove the impact of Title IX outlining fair distribution of participation and scholarship resources by gender. JMU has historically achieved Title IX compliance via prong one (proportionality) and, based upon the advice of its Title IX consultant, will continue to do so. With the university's higher percentage of female student body enrollment, JMU Athletics maximized the possible number of male roster allocations, up to the House limits, which in turn allowed it to protect the maximum number of female opportunities. Thus, roster numbers on the men's side are solid, while individual sports on the women's side could slightly increase or decrease each year to meet various strategic needs.
Previously, due to NCAA rules, scholarship agreements were distributed in an equivalency fashion that provided the student with a percentage of tuition and fees and cost of attendance. In light of the changes to NCAA rules, JMU will shift it's philosophy regarding scholarships. This shift will provide our coaches with the flexibility necessary to create competitive financial offers for student-athletes. These offers can contain traditional scholarship funds, academic awards or incentives, as well as institutional NIL agreements.
Tremendous work went into building this new model for JMU Athletics, and resources will be necessary in order to ensure its success. Those resources include a combination of realized department efficiencies and increases in self-generated revenue. That aspect will be outlined in more detail in the third installment of this series.
Settlement of the NCAA vs. House court case will alter operations for every college athletics program in the country, as teased in an initial message from JMU Athletics earlier in the week. But what exactly will that mean for the JMU Dukes, who have enjoyed a 10-year rise in brand visibility and national achievement with a reclassification to the NCAA FBS level?
Behind the scenes, JMU Athletics administration has worked diligently for over a year as the scope of the settlement came into clearer view to ensure that the ramifications on JMU Athletics would not hinder the progress of decades of rise, but rather that the department would be positioned to thrive in the new landscape.
A key thread of the settlement is the ability for student-athletes to enjoy direct financial benefits in the form of Name, Image & Likeness. Thanks to the Honors1 program and the Dukes Exchange, those opportunities are in place at JMU.
James Madison has lauded itself as a department that experiences broad-based success across all 18 of its sport programs. Given this history and identity, it was critical for the department that the new approach not force any program to take a step back in order to boost another program forward. To this end, the department has striven to equip each program with the resources to be situated as a top program in their respective conferences and parallel with the top peer programs nationally in each sport.
People are critical to the success of JMU Athletics, so it was imperative to protect people at all costs. As JMU navigates the financial impact of the settlement, it has been able to do so without impacting one job within the department or by removing participation opportunities beyond what may have been dictated by terms of the settlement and Title IX.
That said, the financial implications of the settlement are real. The days of scholarship limits are gone from NCAA vernacular. Instead, each sport now has roster limits outlined by the settlement, with the ability to fund scholarships to that maximum number of roster spots. For some sports, such as baseball, lacrosse and softball, the allowable number of scholarships jumps significantly.
JMU's strategy for scholarship distribution allows the department to grow with the addition of a minimum of 15 additional total scholarships in 2025-2026. That figure could continue to adjust each year up to the roster limits, as resources allow. This scholarship increase, combined with direct financial benefits for revenue generating activities, creates a multimillion-dollar budget impact for JMU in 2025-2026.
JMU has finalized its roster number for each sport for 2025-2026. Coaches in each sport have been equipped with this number for months and have been building next year's rosters with this new number in mind.
2025-2026 JMU Athletics Roster Numbers
Men's Sports
Baseball – 34
Basketball – 15
Football – 105
Golf – 9
Soccer – 28
Tennis – 10
Women's Sports
Basketball – 15
Field Hockey – 25
Golf – 7
Lacrosse – 36
Soccer – 27
Softball – 25
Swimming & Diving – 28
Tennis – 8
Volleyball – 15
Indoor Track – 40
Outdoor Track – 40
Cross Country – 15
These roster numbers could see some slight adjustment for various reasons, such as the department awaiting final clarification from the settlement on grandfathering of student-athletes who were on rosters during the previous academic year.
Note that the House Settlement does not remove the impact of Title IX outlining fair distribution of participation and scholarship resources by gender. JMU has historically achieved Title IX compliance via prong one (proportionality) and, based upon the advice of its Title IX consultant, will continue to do so. With the university's higher percentage of female student body enrollment, JMU Athletics maximized the possible number of male roster allocations, up to the House limits, which in turn allowed it to protect the maximum number of female opportunities. Thus, roster numbers on the men's side are solid, while individual sports on the women's side could slightly increase or decrease each year to meet various strategic needs.
Previously, due to NCAA rules, scholarship agreements were distributed in an equivalency fashion that provided the student with a percentage of tuition and fees and cost of attendance. In light of the changes to NCAA rules, JMU will shift it's philosophy regarding scholarships. This shift will provide our coaches with the flexibility necessary to create competitive financial offers for student-athletes. These offers can contain traditional scholarship funds, academic awards or incentives, as well as institutional NIL agreements.
Tremendous work went into building this new model for JMU Athletics, and resources will be necessary in order to ensure its success. Those resources include a combination of realized department efficiencies and increases in self-generated revenue. That aspect will be outlined in more detail in the third installment of this series.
JMU Field Hockey | Dukes Power Past Central Michigan
Thursday, November 06
JMU Athletics Launches 2025 Diggin' Dukes Campaign
Monday, November 03
JMU Men's Basketball | Looking forward to the Challenge
Monday, November 03
JMU Women's Soccer | All Eyes on Foley
Monday, November 03
