When they arrived on campus last month for offseason workouts, James Madison’s men’s basketball players lined up for their official measurements.

While the Dukes’ roster for the 2020-21 season will list height and weight for each man, first-year JMU coach Mark Byington had another number he was particularly interested in: wingspan.

“It’s something I like to know,” Byington said. “We do have some length and I like the fact that we do have some length.”

At first glance, JMU appears to lack traditional big men. Joel Mensah, a 6-foot-10 transfer from San Diego State, is the only player on the roster who stands taller than 6-8. Senior forward Zach Jacobs and sophomore swing man Julien Wooden both reach that mark, but Jacobs and Mensah are the only ones on the team most would describe as true post players.

But that doesn’t seem to bother Byington, who aims to establish a position-less style at JMU. Even with Jacobs set to graduate after this season, the Dukes recruiting efforts have mostly focused on guards.

JMU has shown interest in a few big men, such as Saliou Nguer from Buckley Prep in West Virginia, but each scholarship offer the Dukes have extended so far in the classes of 2021 and 2022 have been to backcourt players.

“We’re looking at a lot of guys who can play the point guard or the wing,” Byington said. “I’m really pretty comfortable with the bigs that we have, especially as we want to play position-less basketball.”

And while JMU doesn’t boast a lot of height, it’s the wingspan Byington was quick to note that helps make up the difference.

“Julien came back at a 7-1 wingspan,” Byington said. “He actually had the biggest wingspan on the team. That was encouraging because I feel like he moves well and does a lot of good things. And we had three guys on the team after him with 7-foot wingspans.”

Jacobs, who led JMU in blocked shots each of the past two seasons, was among the long-armed Dukes. Newcomers Justin Amadi and TJ Taylor also had wingspans stretching to 7-feet.

Amadi stands just 6-7. But with his combination of explosive jumping ability and length, it’s little wonder why Byington and his staff imagine the freshman from South Carolina having the ability to guard taller post players and serve as a rim protector in the years to come.

The same theory applies to Taylor, a transfer who played two seasons at Wyoming and is expected to sit out this season for JMU. Taylor, a Chesapeake product, stands 6-6, but played the power forward position for large chunks of his career with the Cowboys.

It’s not just in the backcourt where JMU’s long arms might disrupt opponents. Sophomore combo guard Jayvis Harvey stands 6-3 with a wingspan of 6-9. Matt Lewis, a 6-5 senior who is the leading returning scorer in the CAA after averaging 19 points per game last season, checked in with a 6-8 wingspan.

The challenge going forward is putting the length to good use.

“We have some length, but a weakness right now for our team is playmaking ability,” Byington said. “We have some time, but we have to be able to make decisions and we have to get a lot better handling the ball.”