Heart scare didn’t stop JMU’s James

a closer look Things happen to basketball players. Ankles get twisted and sprained. Fingers get jammed. Noses get broken. Knees buckle and ligaments tear.

Highly-conditioned young athletes are not supposed to have heart problems. And that's what surprised and shocked Juwann James and his coach, Matt Brady.

James, a 6-6, 225-pound senior forward for the James Madison Dukes, has missed 11 games this season as a result of pericarditis, an inflammation of the pericardium, a membrane that surrounds the heart.

"They weren't sure what caused it," James said. "I don't have it any more.

"When I first got it, it was frightening. I had to be concerned more with my health than with basketball."

James is not just any 6-6, 225-pound senior forward from Jacksonville, Fla. He is one of the best players in the Colonial Athletic Association.

"One of the toughest things has been to sit and watch," James said. "I always wanted to get out there with my teammates and help to try to get a win."

He still leads JMU in scoring, 15.8 per game, and is second in rebounding, 5.1 per game.

"He's a dynamite player in this league, and nobody had an answer for him," said Brady, who is in his first year as JMU's coach. "Based on his numbers, I knew I was getting a significant player.

"But I've been pleasantly surprised with the scope of his skills and the depth of his game. I didn't know he'd be able to do all he's done. He is so much more about the intangibles."

James' heart problems first appeared during the Dukes' season-opening game against Davidson.

"There was a tightness in my chest," he said. "I couldn't really catch my breath."

He missed the next seven games. Rest and medication seemed to solve the problem.

Then, James experienced tightness in his chest while playing against George Mason. He left the game with five minutes left. He didn't miss any time other than that and played in the next two games.

The third game out, though, was different.

Early in the second half against Old Dominion, James was on the bench and suddenly, he could not breathe.

He dropped to the floor. The game stopped. He was taken from the arena on a stretcher.

"I felt sharp chest pains," James said. "I didn't know what it was. They took me in the back to make sure everything was OK, then took me to the hospital."

He missed the next four games.

Since then, James has played and performed well. In the final four games of the regular season, James averaged 20 points.

He hopes to continue that this weekend in the CAA tournament at the Coliseum.

"He's been remarkably resilient, and he has dealt with this with great character," Brady said. "He's the strong, silent type, and his philosophy has been to deal with as much of this on his own as he can.

"We feel he's beyond it now, but we still keep his playing time to 20-to-30 minutes a game. He's a tremendous physical specimen, but we don't push it beyond anything that's reasonable."

James knew this was his last season of college basketball. He hoped it would be unlike the first three, when James Madison had a combined record of 25-63.

"This year has been totally different," James said. "We have a new coaching staff, and guys committed to doing what it takes to get a win.

"I'm a firm believer that if you start something, you've got to finish it. I started here, and I was going to finish here. I stuck it out, and finally, it's paying off."

Contact Paul Woody at (804) 649-6444 or .