With the James Madison athletic department amid remarkable success and heavy transition, the Montpelier Collective continues to work to keep the Dukes at least somewhat competitive in the Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) realm.

For Cliff Wood, the former head of the JMU Duke Club who now leads the Montpelier Collective as the unofficial NIL branch of the school, that has meant increasing fundraising, keeping JMU coaches up to date with their efforts, and at times, combating misinformation as NIL goes largely unregulated in many places.

JMU and its collective — which works exclusively with charities and community service organizations such as the United Way and Blue Ridge Area Food Bank to provide endorsement opportunities for athletes — can have a difficult time negotiating against other schools when it comes to NIL.

Yet the Dukes were still able to hire successful head coaches in football and basketball this school year.

“It’s hard to matchup what the players say they got and what the schools say they got,” Wood said. “The answer is probably somewhere in between. If you ask our coaches, we’re probably light. If you ask me, I don’t think these kids get what they say they are getting offered. All of our offers are in writing and we have a contract. I walk them through the contract. I walk them through the tax implications and make sure they understand what they are signing and how to do their community service to get their stipend.”

At JMU, NIL remains something of a bonus for some athletes while, in recruiting, coaches are selling other advantages the Dukes have over peer mid-major and Group of Five programs.

New men’s basketball head coach Preston Spradlin had virtually no NIL at his disposal at Morehead State, where he led the Eagles to two NCAA Tournament appearances in the past four years.

Now Spradlin is also using JMU’s other resources such as facilities and athletic budget, which at around $68 million last year was the highest in the Sun Belt, to his advantage.

“We’ve done a great job of selling ourselves and selling the people and not necessarily coming in and pointing to the resources and all these types of things,” Spradlin said. “The rabbit’s got a gun now, so I’m excited to take what we do on a daily basis and have a few more bullets in the chamber.”

But JMU is still aiming to increase its might in the NIL department.

“Overall, we’re pleased with the way it’s been growing,” Wood said. “But it’s not where we want to be. We started off slow, but the growth has been good. We still have a lot to do. It seems like our fans respond more to campaigns, or calls to action.”

Wood was a part of the hiring committees that selected both Bob Chesney as the new football coach in the fall and Spradlin to replace Mark Byington as men’s basketball coach late last month.

Part of his role in both coaching searches was updating candidates on where JMU stands in the NIL landscape.

The fact that JMU has also filled two of the most high-profile jobs on campus within a few months of each other — and are in the midst of selecting a new athletic director this month — has kept the Montpelier Collective staff on its toes.

“So right now we have a ‘Coach For A Day’ campaign with Coach Chesney,” Wood said. “We’re about to launch a ‘Welcome Coach Spradlin’ campaign. I don’t like running two at the same time but both times we lost a coach, we already had a campaign running. It dilutes it a little bit, but right now we’re trying to give our fans experiences so they can get something for their donation.”

Wood said that while NIL was a topic of discussion during the coaching searches, it wasn’t a primary selling point for either JMU or the candidates.

The Montpelier Collective remains active and has provided opportunities to endorse local charities for players such as Terrence Edwards, the Sun Belt Men’s Basketball Player of the Year, and freshman All-American football player D’Angelo Ponds.

The collective may have also helped JMU retain point guard Xavier Brown, who was in the transfer portal after Byington left JMU but recommitted to Spradlin and the Dukes.

But when it comes to player payments, it’s not as much of a recruiting tool at JMU as some schools, particularly in Power 5 conferences.

“Every NIL is different, and Virginia is different from other states,” Wood said. “How we originally set up our NIL was based on state law, which supersedes crappy NCAA regulations. So a lot of it was just explaining how we worked to all the candidates, everybody who asked, both in football and basketball.”