At least when he arrives for training camp, Jebril Murray won’t have to learn all of his new teammates’ names.

“I just have an array of friends that go to school there and play there,” Murray said, “and to play with them again is just going to be awesome.”

Late Monday, Murray, a transfer safety from Navy, announced his commitment to James Madison via Twitter. On Tuesday, Murray told the Daily News-Record he’s immediately eligible and has four years of eligibility to play with the Dukes.

The product of Hermitage High School in Richmond, played high school football with and graduated alongside current JMU linebacker Mateo Jackson. He said he also has longtime friendships with Dukes left tackle Raymond Gillespie, kicker Ethan Ratke and holder Alex Miller, and knows former All-American cornerback Rashad Robinson well, too.

“JMU to me is home,” Murray said.

Earlier this offseason, Murray elected to depart Navy and he said while his name was in the transfer portal he drew interest from numerous FBS and FCS programs – Holy Cross, Liberty, Northern Arizona, Old Dominion, Rhode Island and Robert Morris – but ultimately decided on JMU because of his familiarity with players in the program, the academics and trust he created with Dukes safeties coach Eddie Whitley.

Murray said he believes he can succeed under Whitley.

“His transparency is awesome,” Murray said about Whitley. “His ability to understand players, because he’s young, is great. His résumé is proven. He played at Virginia Tech, went to the NFL and so all I can do is learn from him. … And ever since I went into the transfer portal, he’d hit me up and say, ‘How you doing?’ He’d ask about my family and then we’d talk ball, so it’s going to be awesome to have a coach that’s young and who understands this generation of sports and how to be there for his players.”

Last fall, Murray redshirted with the Midshipmen in Annapolis, Md., and the year before he attended Naval Academy Prep School in Newport, R.I.

“It was a phenomenal experience,” Murray said. “I never would talk bad about it. I learned so much and I grew as a man. I learned some responsibility and maturity things.”

He said he’s hoping he can bring all the lessons he learned on and off the field as a member of the Navy football program with him to JMU.

“I learned a new meaning to the word team to be honest with you,” Murray said. “I learned how to keep my focus in the game and on my team, and once everybody is on the same page that great things come from that. We had a phenomenal season last year and I was just blessed to be part of that. It just taught me a winning attitude, winning mindset and how to compete.

“And playing for Coach Ken [Niumatalolo] is unrivaled, so it was awesome to play for him and for [defensive coordinator] Brian Newberry. I just learned a lot about the team aspect of the game.”

Out of Hermitage High School, Murray was a two-star prospect by Rivals.com and held other offers from Army, Air Force, Bucknell and Georgetown. He said the biggest difference between being recruited as a high school player and as a college transfer is as a college transfer he considered his career after football more than he did a couple of years ago.

And though he’s joining the Dukes as a safety, he said he’s open to playing cornerback or whatever spot can fill a need for the team.

“I’m hoping to use my flexibility to move around and play different positions,” he said.

The 5-foot-11, 180-pounder said he’s still working on the details with JMU’s staff in regard to his report date in Harrisonburg for training camp. The Dukes are scheduled to begin Friday, but he said he’s likely to get there at some point next week.

Murray is the sixth FBS transfer JMU has landed this offseason.