O'Regan Brings In Versatile Recruits

But the addition of assistant coach Ian Caskill to his staff did pay immediate dividends in the class of three signees James Madison women’s basketball announced last Tuesday. Caskill, who spent his entire professional playing career in France, used his fluency in French and his connections in Quebec to help score the Dukes a letter of intent from Eleanore Marciszewski, rated the second-best prospect in Canada according to Crown Scout Girls, a recruiting service in the country.

The 6-foot wing was a major priority of O’Regan and his staff during the summer, and the second-year JMU coach was courtside for all of Marciszewski’s games during a tournament in Maryland back in July. For O’Regan, Marciszewski symbolizes the direction he is trying to take the Dukes in his tenure.

She has the size to cause defenders problems in the Colonial Athletic Association and has the ball handling and shooting skills to allow her to play almost anywhere on the court. O’Regan said those complementary skill sets could allow Marciszewski to battle for playing time immediately upon her arrival.

“I think she’s going to be able to come here and make an impact right away,” O’Regan said. “She can shoot the 3 well, she can post up smaller guards if we’re playing her in that spot. We’re going to have some versatility, which is obviously is where I’m trying to go with everything.

“She’s not going to use her athleticism to gain her baskets, but [she’s a] skilled and extremely competitive kid that wants to get better every day. She wants to be pushed and that’s what attracted me so much to her was how much she wanted to be pushed to be better.”

That desire to be challenged and pushed was a big reason Millbrook point guard Madison Green decided to commit to the Dukes more than a year ago. Green said she felt a connection with O’Regan during the recruiting process and she thought he was the coach who could transform her into the type of player she strives to be after college.

“Coach Sean was a big reason in my decision,” Green said. “He understands me, he understands what I want to be and where I want to be, and I understand what he expects from me. … I feel like Coach Sean can push me to be the best point guard I can be. He can bring things out of me. I need to be pushed, and he can push me.”

Green fills a hole for the Dukes, who have struggled to fill the point guard spot with one player since Angela “Muff” Mickens graduated after the 2015-16 season. Green is a pass-first guard, who has excelled at opening the floor for her teammates and giving them the ball in good places to shoot.

O’Regan was very familiar with Green from recruiting and watching her older sister, Courtni, who ended up playing four years at Delaware. From that early age, O’Regan said he saw in Madison Green the type of attitude he likes to have in his point guard.

“What really stood out to me was her bulldog mentality,” O’Regan said. “That’s something that I really like, especially in a point guard. She’s really fierce on the court. … Strong basketball IQ because of the years her brother and sister played basketball, and it’s a basketball family. I’m very excited for Maddie to come here and learn and hopefully run the one for us for many years to come.”

Much like current JMU freshman Tori Harris, Green sometimes has to battle the success of her older siblings had in their careers. Green’s older brother, Erick, was the 2013 ACC Player of the Year at Virginia Tech and now plays for Valencia in Spain. Courtni was a second-team All-CAA selection as a senior in 2015-16, and averaged 10.1 points per game in her four years with the Blue Hens.

But Green said she feels her accolades stand on their own and she is excited to write her chapter of the family’s basketball story at JMU.

“I feel like my accomplishments are what I’ve done,” Green said. “I don’t feel the need to compare myself to my brother and sister. Everyone knows what I’m capable of. They’re more scorers, that was their job; my job is to get my teammates the ball and score when I have to.”

To complement the scorer and passer in this class, O’Regan signed Jaylin Carodine, a hard-nosed guard who said her strengths are rebounding and defense. O’Regan said he believes Carodine’s “freak” athletic abilities will be a major help for JMU on the glass, adding she is a strong around the basket and can finish through contact near the rim.

The issue is Carodine will miss her senior season at St. John’s College High School in Washington after tearing her ACL over the summer. O’Regan said he believes Carodine might have earned some offers from Power Five programs if she hadn’t hurt herself, but has no worries that she’ll be ready at full strength for next season.

Carodine said in addition to the winning culture JMU has built over the past decade, the loyalty O’Regan showed after her injury solidified the confidence and trust she has in him to guide her to the next stage in life — whether it includes basketball or not.

“I appreciate Coach O’s loyalty,” Carodine said. “Regardless of my injury, he still wanted me and he said he didn’t care about it because he knows I’m strong and I’ll be back better than ever. That was important to me that he showed his loyalty and I can trust him even more now.”