She started taking me to men's basketball games when I was 6 months old when they played their home games in Godwin Hall. Growing up I built a lot of connections with people who work at JMU. In fact I even tell people that I "grew up on JMU" because at one point all the top administrative people (i.e. President, AD, even Lefty when he was there, etc.) knew me because of her. In fact, it is how I got to meet Babcock when he was in HS because his father was the baseball coach at the time. I also got to meet Kenny Brooks when he was a player on the men's basketball team because of her. I built a few other connections over the years.
Some worked in the academic side and some worked in the athletic side. I still keep in contact with a few of them since most of my family still lives in the Harrisonburg/Rockingham area.

In talking with a couple of my contacts, they indicated to me that Conference USA did informally reach out to JMU after ODU made its pitch to gauge JMU's interest in joining the conference. It sounds like JMU's response to C-USA's informal inquiry was "Thanks, but no thanks. We are not interested in switching DI subdivisions at this time" or something to that effect. I am not surprised by JMU's response given that the administration views athletics as a tool for recruiting regular out-of-state students. Hence why I said JMU would prefer to be in a conference with a strong presence in the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions because that is where JMU gets a bulk of their out-of-state students from.

If JMU can't become a member of the AAC, either as a full or football-only member, then they may be willing to entertain a football-only membership in the MAC. If JMU does become a football-only member in a FBS conference, then it may be content remaining in the CAA for all other sports. Although, I do believe JMU desires to become a full member of the Atlantic 10. It would like to renew its rivalry with GMU, Richmond, and VCU. Also, the Atlantic 10 fits JMU's "requirement" of having a strong presence in the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions. Unfortunately, the Atlantic 10 doesn't have any room at the moment. Even if the Atlantic 10 was looking to expand or add a replacement member, I am not sure the conference is interested in adding another VA school.
[Post edited by VTHokie2000 at 10/16/2021 11:41PM]