DT Thompson Wastes No Time Pledging To JMU

Everything came together quickly for Ike Thompson and James Madison.

Before Monday, the Life Christian Academy (Chester) defensive tackle didn’t have any scholarship offers. But by Tuesday, he was the fourth commitment in the Dukes’ 2022 recruiting class.

“It was an opportunity that you can’t pass up on,” Thompson told the Daily News-Record shortly after announcing his decision on Twitter.

Thompson said this past Saturday he attended JMU’s one-day prospect camp after being encouraged by lead recruiter and Dukes rovers coach Eddie Whitley to do so leading into the event.

“So I came up to the camp and I talked to [defensive coordinator] Corey Hetherman,” Thompson said, “and we had a really good connection and I did really well at the camp. After that, I went and talked to coach Curt Cignetti and he said, ‘We really like you and we’ll evaluate your camp performance and your film a little more and we’ll get back to you on Monday.’

“Then, Monday came and Coach Cignetti called me. He was like, ‘Do you love JMU?’ I said, ‘Yes sir.’ And he told me to hand the phone to my mom and he told her that they were going to offer me a full scholarship.”

Thompson said he was overjoyed and committed on the spot, becoming the second LCA defensive lineman to pledge to the Dukes in as many days. His current and future teammate Tyrique Tucker committed to JMU on Monday.

Both Thompson and Tucker were in Harrisonburg on Saturday for the camp.

“We kind of joked about it before the camp,” Thompson said about the idea of continuing to play with Tucker in college, “because we both went the same day and we were saying, ‘You know, this is a great opportunity and they’re a top FCS team in the country,’ so it doesn’t get any better than this, especially for an undersized guy. So, once they extended the offer, he committed and then I got extended the offer. It just kind of happened.”

Up until this week, the 6-foot, 295-pound Thompson had heard from FBS Rutgers and Kent State as well as FCS VMI and Villanova throughout the recruiting process. But none of those programs had offered Thompson a scholarship.

Life Christian Academy played a shortened five-game fall season this past year because of the pandemic, and even though he was productive while notching three sacks, there maybe wasn’t enough evaluation material for one of those schools to make an offer.

“But I was confident in myself and my ability with what the [JMU] coaching staff had told me prior to coming to the camp,” Thompson said. “So, I thought that [getting an offer from JMU] could always be a possibility.”