Atlanta RB Felt Fit With Dukes

HARRISONBURG — Even Austin Douglas was caught off guard when he initially heard from James Madison.

“I didn’t really know too much about it,” Douglas said. “I was like ‘Why are they recruiting me all the way down here in Georgia?’

“I was surprised when I figured out how far they were, and then the success that they’ve had as a program over the years, so I was very pleased with them taking a shot of coming all the way down here to see a Georgia boy play.”

The Mount Vernon (Atlanta) running back became the 11th commitment in the Dukes’ 2019 recruiting class when he pledged earlier this week. Douglas said he plans to ink his Letter of Intent during the December signing period.

JMU has only four Georgia natives on its current roster and hasn’t signed a prospect from The Peach State since adding wide receiver Josh Sims, now a starter, two years ago.

“He did have lots of interest, being in Atlanta,” Mount Vernon coach Wayne Dabbs said of Douglas, who earned scholarship offers from 12 schools including FBS Arkansas State, Georgia State and Ohio University.

“We’ve got a lot of coaches that come through and his performance speaks for itself,” Dabbs said. “He went to a lot of camps this summer, but JMU got in pretty early with him.”

Dukes running backs coach De’Rail Sims is the lead recruiter on Douglas, and Douglas said it was the connection between the two that allowed him to feel secure with JMU even though the school is further away than some of the others that offered.

“That’s been the biggest thing for me with him, is how comfortable he’s been while he’s been recruiting me,” Douglas said. “Sometimes there are coaches recruiting me and they’re uptight and telling me about how good their school is and what they can do for me, but me and Coach Sims had day-to-day conversations that weren’t just about football.

“He’d ask about things in general like how my day was going, how my high school team is doing and how school is going and things like that, so it really wasn’t like recruiting. It was just him finding out the kind of person that I am, and me, as I’m talking with him, getting a feel for who he is.”

Dabbs said Sims is visiting Mount Vernon tonight to watch Douglas play since JMU is on its bye week.

Through seven games, Douglas has rushed for 939 yards while averaging 10.6 yards per carry and recorded 16 catches for 305 yards in the Mustangs’ spread system. The 5-foot-11, 195-pounder has 16 total touchdowns.

“He is a guy that late in the game, when teams are tired of chasing receivers around, we can just hand it to him 10 times in a row between the tackles,” Dabbs said. “He can handle the beating, but we also do motion him to slot a lot and get isolation and one-on-one with backers and safeties and he takes advantage of those.

“He’s got good hands and runs good routes and he’s got zero turnovers in the last two years, so he’s a sure-handed guy.”

Douglas said his size and running style were what Sims and Dukes coach Mike Houston told him they were looking for during the months leading up to the commitment.

When Douglas gets to JMU, he’ll join a position group featuring Jawon Hamilton and Percy Agyei-Obese, who will both be juniors, as well as fellow incoming freshman CJ Jackson of Hermitage (Richmond).

The Dukes graduate running backs Cardon Johnson, Trai Sharp and Marcus Marshall off this year’s team.

“The way I play is how they coach their running backs,” Douglas said. “So I think when I get up there, they’ll just enhance my game even more for me to be a good asset for the team.”

Marshall hosted Douglas last month during the prospect’s official visit. Douglas said that trip to JMU was when he realized he wanted to commit.

“It just blew my mind,” Douglas said. “The atmosphere, the camaraderie, the coaching staff, the community and everything was just such a good fit for me, so I had this gut feeling about it.

“… I was sure the whole time, but I waited just like a month or so to make sure. It was the best fit for me and even if a bigger school or a Power Five offered me right now, I think that [JMU] is the best fit for me.”