Dukes Ink 14 To LOIs, Seven From Va.
They snagged at least one player from every well-recruited area of the state – the 757, Northern Virginia and Richmond.
On Wednesday, James Madison inked 14 signees to Letters of Intent, with half of the prospects coming from high school programs across the Commonwealth.
“It’s actually kind of crazy how an FCS school that isn’t the big, state university, can pull guys who have those offers,” Ocean Lakes (Virginia Beach) offensive lineman Tyler Stephens said. “That’s a real testament to how they’re doing in recruiting right now.”
Stephens had his pick of FBS and FCS schools to play for, garnering 26 different scholarship offers before narrowing his choices down to Appalachian State, East Carolina, Liberty and JMU prior to giving the Dukes a verbal pledge in early July.
The 6-foot-5, 295-pounder wasn’t the only one with high-level offers to sign with JMU either.
Life Christian Academy (Chester) cornerback AJ Webb was previously a Virginia commitment, and earlier this week he said Appalachian State, Old Dominion and Rutgers all made last-minute pitches to try and flip him away from JMU. Salem (Virginia Beach) running back Kaelon Black, who rushed for more than 1,700 yards this fall, earned offers from Virginia Tech and Wake Forest, but instead committed and signed with the Dukes last week.
“We have a great culture here and a great brand,” first-year JMU coach Curt Cignetti said about the pitch he and his staff makes to those prospects with plenty of options, “and we play for championships here year in and year out, and that makes for a happy locker room.”
Stone Bridge (Ashburn) defensive end Mikail Kamara posted back-to-back 15-sack seasons and helped the Bulldogs reach the Virginia High School Class 5 state championship game this season.
Kamara said he played against Fork Union Military Academy wide receiver Antwane Wells earlier in their prep careers when Wells was a standout for Highland Springs High School, the same school that sent the Dukes current defensive Mike Greene to Harrisonburg.
Hidden Valley (Roanoke) tight end Kelly Mitchell and Patriot (Nokesville) defensive linemen Tyler Negron were first-team All-River Run District and first-team All-Cedar Run District selections, respectively.
“Those are the pockets when you look at the state,” Cignetti said. “JMU has always had pretty good success in Northern Virginia. Richmond is a very talented, loaded area and the 757 has a great tradition, great history and so I think that’s where you’ll see us pull most of our guys from.”
It probably helped Cignetti and his staff that once the in-state prospects committed, they turned around and started selling JMU to players they knew or had met on visits to Bridgeforth Stadium.
“A lot of guys had come to me before they committed and asked me how it is and why I committed,” said Webb, who made his decision in June and was the second verbal pledge in the class only behind Kamara. “I feel like sometimes I’m a leader with going out there and being a big brother to a lot of guys who may not have known exactly what’s going on. And so if they wanted to commit, I told them the coaching staff was friendly and the school is gorgeous.”
Stephens, having faced Black earlier this fall, said he’s thrilled Black became part of the class.
“I think he put almost 350 yards on our defense,” said Stephens, with a laugh. “And we lost that game. He’s such a spectacular player and he had the Power Five offers, and JMU got him to go on the official and he finally committed. It’s just awesome.”
Kamara said: “The class is great. You have a bunch of a guys like me who have FBS offers and some with real big FBS offers and still are willing to join an FCS program in JMU.”
Beyond the borders of Virginia, JMU plucked five prospects from high schools in others states and two college transfers from FBS programs.
West Lafayette (Ind.) quarterback Kyle Adams, who threw for 8,554 yards and 106 touchdowns in his high school career, is the first signal-caller JMU has signed since Gage Moloney headlined the 2017 class.
“His numbers speak for themselves on tape,” Cignetti said about Adams. “He set a lot of records. He’s an intelligent guy and so I think he’s a good prospect.”
Franklin (Reisterstown, Md.) cornerback Xavier Cokley, Buckingham Browne & Nichols School (Cambridge, Mass.) defensive back Sam Malignaggi and University of Massachusetts transfer safety Joseph Norwood should bolster the secondary while St. Francis DeSales (Columbus, Ohio) offensive lineman Cole Potts and University of Connecticut transfer offensive lineman Stanley Hubbard have a chance to help the Dukes’ front.
Of the 14 signees, seven are offensive players and seven are on the defensive side of the ball.
“That was by chance,” Cignetti said of the balance in the class. “You got your needs, but I’d like to find another defensive tackle or two out there, an offensive lineman and linebacker.”