Dukes Sign Five To Complete '19 Class

HARRISONBURG — Curt Cignetti couldn’t come up short in a pipeline state for his new program.

So the first-year James Madison coach and his staff closed in Maryland.

“I think Maryland is a state maybe we can dig into a little deeper, perhaps,” Cignetti said. “Not that they didn’t in the past, but I think the potential to attract a couple more guys is there and there’s a lot of players there.”

On Wednesday, the Dukes signed five prospects including four from the Old Line State to complete their 2019 recruiting class, and Cignetti said they did it without having to battle and sweat out signing day.

The five Letters of Intent JMU received were all in before 9 a.m.

“I think it says a lot about the brand that’s been created here,” Cignetti said, “that there could be a coaching change days before the early signing date and we were able to hold together, for the most part, the recruiting class and add to it.”

Good Counsel (Olney, Md.) linebacker Julio Ayamel, defensive end Jalen Green and running back Latrele Palmer along with Avalon School (Wheaton, Md.) defensive lineman Carlo Jones and John Handley (Winchester) wide receiver Kevin Curry Jr. all inked Letters of Intent on Wednesday’s traditional signing date to join the eight other JMU signees who previously made it official during December’s early signing period.

Ayamel and Green are three-star prospects by Rivals.com, and were verbally committed to JMU since July. But in the days between former coach Mike Houston’s departure for East Carolina and Cignetti’s arrival from Elon, other schools pursued the two Good Counsel standouts.

“We had pre-existing relationships with a lot of these players,” Cignetti said. “We had recruited them last spring and in the fall, and when there was a change here, we were very active in the recruiting process with a lot of ‘em, and I think those relationships really benefited us.”

Ayamel and Green said they never wavered in their commitments.

JMU wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator Mike Shanahan recruited Good Counsel for Cignetti at Elon, so it was a smooth transition as Shanahan led on Ayamel, Green and Palmer when Cignetti’s staff got to JMU and had to make sure those prospects signed with the Dukes.

In the end, JMU had four signees from Virginia and four from Maryland as those two states produced the most prospects for this recruiting class. Though Cignetti said dominating Virginia is the top priority moving forward on the recruiting trail, he added he wants his staff to maintain and build on those strong relationships they have in Maryland.

Ayamel, Green, Palmer and Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.) defensive end Sean Johns all played in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference, which Cignetti labeled as the “SEC of high school football.”

Green, Johns and Jones give JMU three incoming defensive linemen while Palmer, Hermitage’s (Richmond) CJ Jackson and Mt. Vernon’s (Atlanta) Austin Douglas provide the Dukes with three incoming running backs as they must replace graduated backs Cardon Johnson, Trai Sharp and Marcus Marshall from last year’s team.

Running backs and defensive linemen were the two positions JMU addressed with the most intent for this class.

“Corey Hetherman, our defensive coordinator, likes to play a lot of people up front,” Cignetti said. “He likes to slide ends into tackle in passing situations, so we’re excited about that group and their potential to make an impact.

“From a running back standpoint, when I was hired, there were two running backs on scholarship in the program and we had lost our top three running backs from last season, so I thought it was important to build not only depth, but competition at that position.”

The class also consists of Gaffney (S.C.) tight end Hunter Bullock, Shelby (N.C.) cornerback Dorian Davis, I.C. Norcom (Portsmouth) linebacker Taurus Jones, Terry Sanford (N.C.) offensive lineman Tanner Morris and West Orange (N.J.) safety Jordan White.

Bullock and Davis are already enrolled and on campus.

“They’re both getting lots of compliments about what they’re doing in the classroom and down in the weight room and agilities,” Cignetti said. “We’re going to know a lot more about them when we start spring ball Thursday, March 14.

“The biggest thing for them is it’s a great transitional period to kind of learn the offense, the defense, to wake up on your own and go to class, so when they come back in August, they’re almost like sophomores.”