Houston Happy To Have Another Davis

HARRISONBURG — This week has been a memorable one for the Davis family.

On Sunday, former James Madison standout Rashard Davis won Super Bowl LII with the Philadelphia Eagles and on Wednesday, younger brother Rakeem Davis signed his National Letter of Intent to play football at James Madison.

Rakeem was the Dukes’ longest standing commit, having pledged verbally in April.

“I would be lying if I [said] that Rashard did not play a factor in this,” JMU coach Mike Houston said. “Rashard Davis is one of the most outstanding young men that I’ve ever been around. He is just a quality person and his family, with the way they have raised the two boys, that’s a great home. So I know the character that Rakeem is going to bring.

“That had a factor in us recruiting him, there’s no doubt.”

Rakeem Davis, like his older brother, projects as a slot receiver and return man at the college level after a stellar career at Charlottesville High School. He was the first-team All-Central Virginia and All-Jefferson District returner, averaging 18 yards per return with two kickoff returns for touchdowns.

“Rakeem is a very dynamic player and a very explosive player, much like Rashard,” Houston said. “He’s a little bit bigger than Rashard, but has that explosive, big-play ability and we think, in time, he’s going to develop into a similar kind of a playmaker both on offense and on special teams.”

Rashard was the Colonial Athletic Association Special Teams Player of the Year in 2016 after leading all of the NCAA with four punt returns for touchdowns.

Two December signees are already enrolled, on campus and on the roster for spring practice, which begins the second full week of March.

South Pointe High School (Rock Hill, S.C.) cornerback Jamari Currence and Garden City Community College (Garden City, Kan.) linebacker Matt Terrell have a head start on the rest of the class since Houston said they’ll both benefit from a full offseason with the program.

Currence was part of four straight state championship teams at South Pointe and was a South Carolina 4A All-Region player as a senior.

“Jamari is adapting to college life and those are the ones that always worry you,” Houston said. “The rest of his buddies are back home getting ready for prom and he’s going to class and going to [JMU strength coach] Big John [Williams].

“That’s been a reality check there with the workouts and everything, but he’s adapting well.”

Terrell spent his freshman year at Virginia, but transferred to Garden City for this past fall where he racked up 90 tackles.

“Matt is an older player and a quality player,” Houston said. “He’ll be a guy that you see this spring compete for a starting job really quickly and Big John is working him really hard, trying to get a little more size on him. But we feel like he’s going to be a big contributor for our team this fall.”

JMU’s 2018 recruiting class features nine signees from Virginia.

Since taking over as coach at the school, Houston said his staff has made it a priority to recruit some of the top players in the state.

Of the nine, which includes Terrell, a Lynchburg native, two are from Richmond and two are from the Virginia Beach area.

Hermitage (Richmond) linebacker Mateo Jackson was the Metro Defensive Player of the Year and a Virginia High School League 5A All-State first-teamer.

“There’s a lot of pride about the level of football in the state of Virginia,” Houston said. “I promise you the 757 thinks that because that’s all I hear in our locker room is that [between] the 804 and 757 or whatever it is, all the area code chatter.”

It’s also an emphasis to beat the other CAA schools for nearby talent.

“We talk a lot about it as a program,” Houston said. “Winning the state of Virginia because you do have in-state rivalries with some of the top schools in our league, so it’s a big deal for us whether it be Richmond or William & Mary or Norfolk State or whomever.”