Dukes Targeting 2021 In-State QB
HARRISONBURG – Call it working ahead.
Even though James Madison doesn’t have a committed prospect for the 2020 class yet, the Dukes already have a top target for 2021.
“My high school coach said they didn’t want to pass me up,” Lake Braddock (Burke) quarterback Billy Edwards said, “and that they wanted to get on me when I was young, so that was a good thing to hear and I’m glad they did because I’m definitely interested in James Madison.”
Edwards said the Dukes offered him a scholarship last week on the heels of a visit JMU offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Shane Montgomery took to Lake Braddock.
Montgomery was there to see tight end Matthew Hibner, a 2020 prospect, run routes and catch passes, but also noticed how Edwards threw the ball, according to the 6-foot-3, 195-pound quarterback.
Edwards was an All-Patriot District and All-Region 6C first-team choice as a sophomore this past fall while throwing for 2,456 yards and 29 touchdowns compared to only seven interceptions.
“I slung it pretty well,” Edwards said. “And [JMU] had known me a little bit, but it wasn’t like they were coming to see me, so I was glad I was able to take advantage of the opportunity given.”
The Dukes haven’t landed a signal-caller since the 2017 recruiting class when former coach Mike Houston signed Gage Moloney out of Northwestern High School (Rock Hill, S.C.).
Earlier this month during a conversation about recruiting for the 2020 class, first-year JMU coach Curt Cignetti said quarterback is a position of need for his program. Cignetti and Edwards haven’t met yet, Edwards said, but JMU initially became involved when Edwards’ lead recruiter, Dukes defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman, visited Lake Braddock not long after Cignetti took over in Harrisonburg this past winter.
The second encounter was with Montgomery.
“And Coach Montgomery seemed very knowledgeable,” Edwards said. “I only was able to talk with him for a minute or two, but he talked about how he used to coach Ben Roethlisberger and other quarterbacks.
“He just seemed like he was geek in the game, and obviously he wouldn’t be a coach if he didn’t know the ins and outs of the game, but it was cool to hear about all the guys he’s coached and how long he’s been around football. So it’s definitely cool if I were to end up there to have a position coach that has all that knowledge and experience with everywhere he’s been.”
Edwards said he’s followed JMU the past few seasons since his brother, Kyle Edwards, was briefly recruited by the Dukes before beginning his career at Bridgewater College and then transferring to Alabama.
“It’s definitely one of the top schools in the state that I pay attention to,” Edwards said of JMU, “and watch and keep up with because they’re pretty much the top football in the state aside from Virginia Tech and Virginia, so I definitely like where the program is going especially with this new staff and even with what the old staff was able to do. It’ll be interesting to see what steps they go in now because they can only go up.”
For the Dukes to land Edwards, they’ll likely have to beat tough competition from both the FBS and FCS levels.
Edwards said he has other offers from fellow Colonial Athletic Association member William & Mary and Ivy League member Penn, and has met coaches or thrown in front of coaches from at least 20 different schools that have stopped by Lake Braddock this spring.
“Besides James Madison, William & Mary and UPenn, my three offers,” Edwards said, “N.C. State, Wake Forest, University of Maryland, Virginia Tech, Duke and Vanderbilt, those are five or six that I’ve talked to most and have shown the most interest in me.”
Edwards said he’ll likely participate in camps at those FBS programs and will visit both JMU and William & Mary toward the end of the summer.