If there is a question mark heading into the 2019-20 season for the James Madison women’s basketball team, it would be who exactly will play point guard for the Dukes?

With the start of the season a week away, it turns out there’s more than one answer. Look for JMU to implement a more guard-heavy lineup Nov. 6 when Longwood visits the Convocation Center, which could mean an even faster tempo for a team that returns five seniors after winning a school-record 29 games last season.

“I’m ready,” Dukes guard Madison Green said. “We’ve been practicing against each other for more than a month now so we’re energized to get back out there. This time last year I wasn’t as experienced or confident, so I think I’m ready for a new role with this team.”

JMU lost just one starter from last year’s squad, but Logan Reynolds had established herself as the quintessential pass-first point guard in four seasons with the Dukes. But following her graduation JMU will let more than one player handle the ball with senior Kamiah Smalls and sophomore Green set to spend the most time at the one.

Smalls, a first-team All-Colonial Athletic Association performer last season, worked effectively at the shooting guard spot while Green showed flashes of potential future stardom coming off the bench. Heading into this season, O’Regan felt he had little choice but to figure out a way to play them together.

“It’s hard not to want the ball in your best players’ hands,” he said. “For me it was making sure Kamiah was ready and able if she had to play the one. You spend a lot of the offseason making sure she’s ready for that. But Maddie has done a great job and Maddie has kind of warped her game a little bit to adapt to playing around four really good players.”

O’Regan indicated Smalls and Green will spend quite a bit of time on the court together with the Dukes moving to a smaller lineup, and with fellow guards Jackie Benitez and Lexie Barrier also capable of bringing up the ball at times, that means getting up and down the court quicker in a four-guard lineup.

“We’re working together to lead this team and make up for the big role Logan held,” Smalls said. “She kept us up and kept us on our toes. It’s split between me and Maddie right now just building on everything she did and making sure everyone is in the right spots, but it’s a team thing when it comes to listening and communicating.”

It’s all required a little adjustment on several players’ parts, but perhaps most so for Green, who filled the backup point guard role as a freshman, but has always been more of a scoring guard than Reynolds.

With multiple veteran offensive weapons returning for the Dukes, Green has changed up her style somewhat and that’s provided flexibility for the coaching staff.

“Maddie’s natural game is to score,” O’Regan said. “You could put her out there with anybody and she could get you 15 points off high ball screens. She’s done a really good job understanding she’s got to get Kamiah the ball. She’s got to get Jackie and Lexie the ball.

If we had to start a game with Maddie playing the one, I’d be happy. But if we had to start a game with Kamiah playing it, I’d be happy with that too.”