James Madison announced its 2017 football recruiting class Wednesday on National Signing Day. Dukes coach Mike Houston held a press conference at Bridgeforth Stadium and the DN-R also caught up with offensive coordinator Donnie Kirkpatrick and cornerbacks coach Tripp Weaver.

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- The class announced Wednesday consists of 25 signees. Of the 25 signees, there are two FBS transfers. Both – Maryland linebacker Gus Little and Georgia Tech running back Marcus Marshall – are already on campus in Harrisonburg. They along with the lone early enrollee from the high school ranks Freedom High School (Morganton, N.C.) defensive tackle Marcus Hawkins will participate in spring practice.

- 22 of the 25 signees faxed their Letters of Intent to JMU on Wednesday.

- Geographically, JMU signed 11 players from Virginia, five from North Carolina, three from Maryland, two from New Jersey and one from Georgia, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Australia.

- The 11 players from Virginia were a priority for Houston’s staff. Houston said last winter he told high school coaches in the state that his staff was going to make a point of recruiting in Virginia. Houston said signing 11 players from the state backs up what he told those high school coaches. The coach added he believes JMU can stay at the top of the Colonial Athletic Association and all of FCS by keeping Virginia talent instate at JMU.

- JMU recruits from Virginia are: Salem High School (Salem) athlete Noah Beckley, Benedictine (Fredericksburg) cornerback Taurus Carroll, Hanover High School (Mechanicsville) tight end Clayton Cheatham, Landstown High School (Virginia Beach) defensive end Julian Freeze, Highland Springs High School (Highland Springs) defensive lineman Mike Greene, Stafford High School (Fredericksburg) safety MJ Hampton, Cosby High School (Richmond) tight end-linebacker Joe Hunt, Suffolk Academy (Suffolk) linebacker Keshaun Moore and Lake Taylor (Norfolk) linebacker Diamonte Tucker-Dorsey. Maryland transfer Gus Little is originally from Fredericksburg.

- The highest-rated recruit in the class according to Rivals.com is Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.) offensive lineman Liam Fornadel. The 6-foot-3, 305-pounder is a three-star prospect. Houston said both the offensive lines and defensive lines were areas of need for JMU.

- Houston said Fornadel, Hampton, Tucker-Dorsey and Malvern Prep (Chester Springs, Pa.) offensive lineman Jake Glavin all have highlight tapes that reflect the same physical play JMU showed throughout the 2016 season. He said, “the one thing that stands out about them is just how hard hitting they are.”

- The centerpiece of the class is Northwestern High School (Rock Hill, S.C.) quarterback Gage Moloney. The left-handed signal-caller was Mr. Football in the state of South Carolina for the 2016 season. Offensive coordinator Donnie Kirkpatrick said he initially learned of Moloney through former Northwestern High School coach Kyle Richardson, who is now an offensive analyst at Clemson University. Kirkpatrick was at East Carolina at the time and once he moved onto Madison wanted to keep recruiting Moloney.

- Cornerbacks coach Tripp Weaver was the lead recruiter on Moloney. He said developing relationships with Moloney, his mom and his high school coaches were key in the recruitment. Weaver said he was able to connect with David Pierce, the head coach at Northwestern, which gave him good access to Moloney. Moloney flipped his verbal commitment from Ohio University to JMU in December. The DN-R has a full-length feature on Moloney in Thursday's paper.

- The Australian signee is one of two specialists in the class. Punter Harry O’Kelly is from Queensland, Australia. Houston said JMU was able to land O’Kelly through a mutual contact. Houston’s good friend, Andre Powell, who is the special teams coordinator at Pittsburgh, knew O’Kelly’s kicking coach in Australia. The second specialist is Parkland High School (Winston-Salem, N.C.) long snapper Kyle Davis.