HARRISONBURG — James Madison signee Mike Fowler has spent the past month since his Greensboro Day School won the private school state championship in North Carolina fine-tuning his game for the jump to college level.
But he knows one way he can contribute to the Dukes right away.
“Defense is going to get us W’s,” the 6-foot-9 forward said.
Nothing summed up the way JMU had trouble matching up with a certain kind of team than the final week of the regular season.
The Dukes were riding relatively high, having won four of six, including knocking off regular-season Colonial Athletic Association champ Hofstra.
JMU, which finished 14-19 and 6-12 in league play, had an opportunity to finish as high as fourth in the conference, but entered the CAA Tournament seeded eighth after losses to Elon and William & Mary completed season sweeps by the Phoenix and Tribe, a pair of programs that fired their coaches less than two weeks later.
While the Dukes arguably had as much talent overall, Elon’s Tyler Seibring and William & Mary’s Nathan Knight were both centers who could handle the ball and shoot from the perimeter, not a great matchup for JMU’s 6-foot-8, 260-pound bruiser Dwight Wilson.
Each team also featured smaller inside-out threats — Justin Pierce for the Tribe and Steven Santa Ana for the Phoenix — that kept JMU on its toes and players such as Darius Banks, Zach Jacobs and Greg Jones busy.
But that’s one way next year’s freshman class can make an impact right away. JMU signees Julien Wooden and Michael Christmas are a pair of 6-foot-7 high risers who can play inside and out, while Fowler and Devon Flowers, who is pursuing a medical redshirt to join the incoming freshman class, are precisely the kind of big men capable of defending a center who floats around the 3-point arc.
Fowler cemented his reputation as a defensive stopper in the 2018 North Carolina private school state championship, holding Wake Forest-bound 5-star recruit Jaylen Hoard without a point or a rebound.
He’ll also spend the next few months before arriving at JMU improving his offensive game.
“I’ve been working on my ball-handling skills as well as continuing to improve my jump shot from all ranges,” Fowler said. “While doing all of this I’ve also been working on maintaining my post presence. The coaching staff has made it clear to me that they want me to play my game, which is skilled and can be used almost anywhere on the court. So I’m improving on my weaknesses as well my strengths.”
Ready To Sign
The fifth member of JMU’s 2019 recruiting class, Durham, N.C., guard Jayvis Harvey plans to sign with the Dukes on the first day of the spring signing period next Wednesday.
When his letter of intent is received he’ll officially join Fowler, Christmas, Wooden and Alpharetta, Ga., shooting guard Quinn Richey.
Harvey was also selected to play in the RDU High School All-Star Game, an annual event featuring the top players in the Raleigh-Durham metro area. This year’s game will be played May 11 on Harvey’s home court at Southern Durham High School.
