Program field guide · 2026

Sun Belt · Virginia

James Madison

Dukes

James Madison’s Virginia-developed core is 17 players on the 2026 roster.

2026 roster · Roster geography

On the 2026 roster, 17 of 109 spots are filled by Virginia players with no earlier college team detected, and 29 players arrived after playing somewhere else.

The median player grew up 293 mi from campus.

Of the 29 players who came from another college, 2 are from Virginia. Those home-state players make up 7% of detected-transfer stock on this roster.

The record reaches back to 1986, when 56% of the roster came from Virginia. Today it is 17%.

Then → now

2016–18 compared with 2021–25

2016–182021–25—33.5%—17.9%
  • Local-developed core
  • Transfer stock
Measure2016–182021–25
Local-developed core—33.5%
Transfer stock—17.9%

The roster, at a glance

  • 436 miAverage hometown distanceAverage hometown distance among 101 located players.
  • 17.4%In-state17.4% of the roster is from Virginia.
  • 14.9%Backyard14.9% grew up within 100 miles of campus.
  • 26.6%Detected transfers26.6% of the roster arrived after playing at another school.

Across the FBS

Where James Madison ranks

Most In-State#11017.4%Most Transfers#5626.6%Closest to Home#54436 miFarthest From Home#85436 miBiggest Localism Shift#117.4%Most Backyard Players#9014.9%Fewest Transfers#8326.6%Biggest Transfer Shift—Not enough data

Homecoming Radius over time

The median hometown-to-campus distance, by season. The dotted line is the FBS median.

0100200300FBS median (250 mi)198619942002201020182026

Roster composition over time

Where the in-state lens draws the line: local-developed, local transfer, outsider developed, outsider transfer, and unknown. This chart begins where stable athlete IDs make transfer detection possible; the radius chart above carries the official-archive geography farther back.

Local-developedOutsider developedOutsider transfer20222023202420252026

Where do James Madison's players come from?

SeasonRosterIn-stateTransfer signalRadius
202610917.4%26.6%293 mi
202511325.7%19.5%225 mi
202412030.0%20.8%193 mi
202311242.9%16.1%167 mi
202211153.2%15.3%118 mi
2021archive11258.6%19.6% proxy113 mi
2020archive10059.6%19.0% proxy104 mi
2019archive10556.7%16.2% proxy100 mi
2018archive11357.1%17.7% proxy107 mi
2017archive10858.9%14.8% proxy104 mi
2016archive10759.4%17.8% proxy136 mi
2015archive9960.2%14.1% proxy128 mi
2014archive9654.7%19.8% proxy127 mi
2013archive9672.6%11.5% proxy100 mi
2012archive9470.2%13.8% proxy100 mi
2011archive10266.3%15.7% proxy100 mi
2010archive9267.8%10.9% proxy101 mi
2009archive9268.9%8.7% proxy102 mi
2008archive8669.9%10.5% proxy136 mi
2007archive8872.1%6.8% proxy139 mi
2006archive8867.9%8.0% proxy157 mi
2005archive9960.6%13.1% proxy143 mi
2004archive9357.1%17.2% proxy170 mi
2003archive8952.3%11.2% proxy170 mi
2002archive8851.7%10.2% proxy155 mi
2001archive8745.2%14.9% proxy155 mi
2000archive10156.1%14.9% proxy134 mi
1999archive9757.0%20.6% proxy143 mi
1998archive8461.4%6.0% proxy121 mi
1997archive9058.4%3.3% proxy131 mi
1996archive7861.5%7.7% proxy116 mi
1995archive10253.5%2.9% proxy110 mi
1994archive11463.7%3.5% proxy100 mi
1993archive7457.5%5.4% proxy112 mi
1992archive10559.0%3.8% proxy100 mi
1991archive9652.6%1.0% proxy112 mi
1990archive7755.3%1.3% proxy111 mi
1989archive9853.6%0.0% proxy117 mi
1988archive9452.7%0.0% proxy111 mi
1987archive10554.8%0.0% proxy117 mi
1986archive9256.0%0.0% proxy134 mi

archive = official athletic-site roster. “Proxy” is the share listing a previous school where that field behaved like a transfer field; it is not the same measure as detected transfer stock.

Where the roster grew up

Every 2026 player's hometown, with campus marked and the Homecoming Radius circled.

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Homecoming Radius: 293 mi

(This slider is for exploring — leaderboards use the fixed lenses.)

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