{"id":26017,"date":"2015-11-17T14:19:12","date_gmt":"2015-11-17T19:19:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=26017"},"modified":"2025-10-14T12:46:49","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T16:46:49","slug":"royals-mens-basketball-team-meets-d-i-james-madison-university-for-the-first-time-since-1975","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/royals-mens-basketball-team-meets-d-i-james-madison-university-for-the-first-time-since-1975\/","title":{"rendered":"Royals men&#8217;s basketball team meets D-I James Madison University for the first time since 1975"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Keith Phillips was the head men\u2019s basketball coach at Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) in the 1970s when Mike Fratello, an assistant coach under Lou Campanelli at nearby Madison College, wandered into the old \u2013 and very small \u2013 gymnasium in Park View to scout the Royals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe walked in and said, \u2018Where is the place for scouts and the press?\u2019 I told him to take his pick of seats. He could not believe it,\u201d recalled Phillips, who now lives in Washington state. \u201cThis was such small time for him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fratello would go on to be NBA Coach of the Year with the Atlanta Hawks in 1986. Campanelli would one day be the head coach at the University of California and an NBA scout for Cleveland and New Jersey. He recently published \u201cDare to Dream,\u201d about taking the university now known as James Madison to the Division I level, and he writes about some of those games against EMU.<\/p>\n<p>For the first time in 40 years, the two schools, whose home gyms are about four miles apart, will meet Tuesday, Nov. 24 at 7 p.m. at the Convocation Center.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_26020\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-26020\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2015\/11\/Madison2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-26020 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2015\/11\/Madison2-300x237.jpg\" alt=\"Madison taking a shot in the old gym game\" width=\"300\" height=\"237\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2015\/11\/Madison2-300x237.jpg 300w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2015\/11\/Madison2.jpg 621w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-26020\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Taking a shot in the old gym in a game during the 1974-75 season.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It will be their first regular-season meeting since Dec. 9, 1975, when the Dukes won, 95-67. That JMU team included Sherman Dillard, a future sixth-round draft pick of the Indiana Pacers in 1978. <a href=\"http:\/\/emuroyals.com\/information\/directory\/bios\/daveking\">David King<\/a>, now athletic director at EMU, was a 6-foot-3 senior center on the team.<\/p>\n<h3>Dukes hold series advantage<\/h3>\n<p>JMU has won eight of 10 games in a series that began during the 1969-70 season. The two wins by EMU came on Dec. 9, 1969, in the first-ever meeting between the schools by a score of 58-57, and Jan. 20, 1973, with a score of 72-71 at home. Art Mullet coached the 1969 team and Roland Landes the 1973 team.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe beat (JMU) at home when I was a sophomore in 1973. I remember that the place was packed,\u201d said <a href=\"http:\/\/emuroyals.com\/sports\/mgolf\/coaches\/wendelleberly\">Wendell Eberly<\/a>. \u201cIt was a big-time win for us. I remember the place went crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One of the top players for JMU that season was George Tolliver, who went on to be a referee in the NBA and overseas.<\/p>\n<p>Eberly remembers playing at Godwin Hall, the former JMU basketball home before the Convocation Center opened on the opposite and east side of Interstate 81 in 1982. \u201cWhen we went over to play at Godwin, that was the biggest place we played at,\u201d Eberly said of a venue that held about 5,000 fans.<\/p>\n<p>King said the arrival of Phillips, from Norfolk Christian High School, to EMU in 1973 and through 1978 aided the program beyond wins and losses.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was a really significant move. It was someone who had been extremely successful at the high school level,\u201d King noted. \u201cIt was clear this man had a basketball mind. I would say the offensive game was where his strength was. And there was genuine care for the players.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Playing &#8216;up,&#8217; looking to improve<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/emuroyals.com\/sports\/mbkb\/coaches\/kirbydean\">Kirby Dean<\/a>, a 1992 graduate and the Royals head coach since 2002, has tried to set up a game with the Dukes for several years, and he said his relationship with current JMU coach Matt Brady \u2013 on the job since 2008 \u2013 helped lead to this year\u2019s contest.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_26041\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-26041\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2015\/11\/IMG_0052.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-26041 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2015\/11\/IMG_0052-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"scott eyre\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2015\/11\/IMG_0052-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2015\/11\/IMG_0052.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-26041\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The 2015-16 Royals men&#8217;s basketball team. (Photo by Scott Eyre)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cIt is a good chance for our players to play a Division I school. We just want to get better,\u201d Dean said.<\/p>\n<p>The EMU coach pointed out his <a href=\"http:\/\/emuroyals.com\/sports\/mbkb\/2015-16\/roster\">current Division III Royals squad<\/a> doesn\u2019t have any seniors or juniors and will face a strong Division I Dukes club that advanced to the NCAA tournament in 2013.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe know what we are up against,\u201d Dean said of the Dukes, picked to finish second in the Colonial Athletic Association in a pre-season poll.<\/p>\n<p>That was also the case for the Royals back in the 1970s against Madison College, which was progressing to the Division I level by 1976 and switched its name to James Madison University one year later.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor us to beat JMU was a big deal,\u201d said Phillips, who later became a coach and athletic director at Seattle Pacific.<\/p>\n<p>That would certainly be the case as well on Nov. 24 for the Royals \u2013 nearly 40 years after the last regular-season meeting between the schools.<\/p>\n<p>To purchase tickets for the game, click <a href=\"http:\/\/ev9.evenue.net\/cgi-bin\/ncommerce3\/SEGetEventInfo?linkID=jmu&amp;ticketCode=GS:JMU:MB15:MB04:&amp;groupCode=MBSG&amp;shopperContext=&amp;pc=&amp;caller=&amp;appCode=&amp;cgc=&amp;prc=&amp;ppc=&amp;psc=&amp;sm=1\">here<\/a>. For more information on the Convocation Center and parking, click <a href=\"http:\/\/jmusports.com\/sports\/2014\/6\/18\/GD_0618142802.aspx?path=gameday\">here<\/a>. Live stats, video and audio of the game will all be available.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Keith Phillips was the head men\u2019s basketball coach at Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) in the 1970s when Mike Fratello, an assistant coach under Lou Campanelli at nearby Madison College, wandered <a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/royals-mens-basketball-team-meets-d-i-james-madison-university-for-the-first-time-since-1975\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"more-link\">... read more <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">about Royals men&#8217;s basketball team meets D-I James Madison University for the first time since 1975<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26019,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4522],"tags":[9037,5674,14369],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-26017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mens-basketball","tag-dave-king","tag-kirby-dean","tag-wendell-eberly"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - 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