Minium: Mike Jones Knows How Big ODU's Rivalry With JMU is For Monarch Fans
By Harry Minium
NORFOLK, Va. – When he was hired as the Old Dominion men's basketball coach last spring, no one needed to tell Mike Jones how important ODU's rivalry with James Madison is for Monarch fans.
He played for ODU from 1991-92 through 1994-95, when ODU and JMU were bitter Colonial Athletic Association rivals.
"In my four years here, we played them three times in the CAA championship game," Jones said. "We won two of them and lost the third to a heartbreaking last second shot my junior year.
“So, yes, I have a great appreciation for this rivalry. It’s a good rivalry because we don't like each other and we both have very strong basketball programs."
The two teams meet Wednesday night for the first time this season at Chartway Arena at 7 p.m. It is a white out game, and that doesn't refer to the snowfall expected on Wednesday but the color ODU officials want fans to wear.
ODU left the CAA in 2012 for Conference USA, but the schools were reunited in the Sun Belt Conference in 2021-22. Since then, it is now known as the TowneBank Royal Rivalry.
The school with the most victories in all sports claims the Royal Rivalry cup.
From football to men’s and women’s basketball, baseball and virtually every other sport, the rivalry has become more intense after both schools joined the Sun Belt.
ODU's basketball team has played JMU more times than any other school with the exception of VCU and William & Mary. And although the Monarchs lead the series, 58-33, JMU was won seven in a row, including three games last season in which the Dukes won by 15 points or more in each game.
While Jones didn’t need to be introduced to the rivalry, most of his players are newcomers who’ve never taken part in an ODU-JMU game. On Monday, graduate assistant Jason Wade, senior point guard Imo Essien and Odell Hodge, who played with Jones at ODU, all spoke to the team.
“They told us just how big of a game it is, that it’s always a big show out,” said Sean Durogordon, a transfer from Siena.
“I’ve never been part of a big rivalry game before. Obviously, this means a lot to ODU fans and the whole community. We’re all just looking to go out there and give it our all.”
The two teams were polar opposites last season. ODU finished 7-25 during a season in which head coach Jeff Jones suffered a heart attack which eventually led him to retire. JMU, meanwhile, finished 32-4, won the Sun Belt title and upset No. 5 seed Wisconsin in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Both teams have new coaches and a lot of new faces on their rosters.
JMU (10-9 overall, 3-4 Sun Belt) has lost three of its last four games, including a 58-50 home loss to App State. ODU (8-11, 4-3) is coming off back to back home losses to App State (62-43) and Georgia Southern (67-63).
In both games, ODU got off to a slow start.
“We’ve been here before,” Jones said. “We had the same issue at the beginning of the year and we tweaked things a little bit to be able to get our feet under us a little bit earlier.
“We’re tweaking what we do in terms of preparation, our warm ups, things like that.
“We need to have a big start tomorrow, a great start. We need to get the fans behind us as early as we possibly can.”
During Jones’ four years at ODU, the Monarchs went to postseason play every year, including the 1995 NCAA Tournament, in which the Monarchs upset third-seeded Villanova in three overtimes.
ODU lost in the 1994 CAA final to JMU on a last-second shot by Kent Culuko. A year later, the Monarchs blew a 12-point lead in the late going but rallied to claim an 80-75 victory.
“I have so many fond memories of this rivalry,” he said. “The games were always intense.
“Some of my best friends attended JMU. So even after 1995, there’s been a lot of talk back and forth anytime the teams play in anything.
“Tomorrow’s game definitely has some added juice to it.
Minium is ODU’s senior executive writer. Contact him at hminium@odu.edu or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram