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JMU Staff Spots Talent Early, But Holding Off Power 5 Is Tricky

Virginia High School League Class 6 Player of the Year Michael Christmas signed his letter of intent with JMU last fall, choosing the Dukes over Old Dominion.
Virginia High School League Class 6 Player of the Year Michael Christmas signed his letter of intent with JMU last fall, choosing the Dukes over Old Dominion.

HARRISONBURG — James Madison is heading into a critical season.

For the first time in coach Louis Rowe’s four years at his alma mater, the Dukes will head into the season with a core group among the most experienced in the Colonial Athletic Association. But JMU is also still looking for its first winning season under Rowe before moving into the brand new Atlantic Union Bank Center next year.

It’s also undeniable JMU has made its mark on the recruiting trail. The seven-member class of 2019 includes arguably the top two public school prospects in Virginia and players who chose the Dukes over offers from Power 5 conference schools and successful in-state mid-majors such as Old Dominion, VCU and Radford.

At the same time, as Rowe and his staff look to fill a scholarship for 2020 and line up crucial classes for 2021 and 2022, the challenges that face JMU and similar mid-majors are clear as ever.

JMU’s coaches have done a remarkable job identifying top talent and taking advantage of existing connections early in the recruiting process. But holding off major-conference suitors as young players raise their profiles can be tricky.

The Dukes were able to do just that in the fall as 3-star recruit Michael Christmas, the Virginia High School League Class 6 Player of the Year, chose the Dukes. Around the same time, JMU scored official visits from 5-star junior Isaiah Todd and 3-star power forward Jamille Reynolds.

Todd eventually shifted his focus to some of the most prestigious programs in the nation, including Kentucky and North Carolina. But Reynolds plays at Rowe’s high school alma mater, Lakewood, in Tampa, Fla., where he’s coached by Rowe’s lifelong friend Anthony Lawrence Sr.

JMU was the first program to offer Reynolds a scholarship and he kept the Dukes on his list until last week, when he narrowed it to Arkansas, Florida, Miami, Central Florida and South Carolina.

“The campus is huge,” Reynolds told the Daily News-Record last fall. “I’ve never seen anything like it. They guys on the team were good people. I see at their practices they all play well together. I still have a lot of decisions to make. It’s a lot to think about, but I have to always remember who was there for me the most while being recruited.”

With Reynolds out of the picture, the Dukes have offers out to several other post players in the classes of 2020 and 2021. One of the more intriguing among them is 6-11 center Burke Smith from Trinity Episcopal School in Richmond, the same high school as current JMU forward Zach Jacobs.

Smith, whose father Scott played at William & Mary, has offers from a long list of mid-majors, including multiple CAA programs. But as he gains more exposure, it seems likely major-conference offers could eventually come Smith’s way. Smith visited Cincinnati last week.

For Smith, who is also an excellent student pursued by Ivy League schools, conference affiliation may not be a deciding factor.

“At the end of the day it will be a combination of how he feels about the coaching staff, is he a fit with the players and system and who he feels will develop him best,” Scott Smith said. “His ultimate goal is to play at the next level. I don’t think the conference level will matter. Just what’s the best overall fit.”

The Dukes can only hope some other promising young recruits who have connections to JMU will feel the same way and that perhaps a successful upcoming season will make Madison an even more intriguing option.

JMU was first to offer both Terrence Butler Jr., a class of 2021 guard from the Washington area, and Tyler Nickel, a 2022 swingman and local product from East Rockingham High School, as well as another Lakewood player, 2021 guard Oteman Delancey.

Nickel, who averaged more than 22 points and led the Eagles to the VHSL Class 2 title game as a freshman, has deep ties the Dukes with both parents employed by JMU and his East Rock teammate Dalton Jefferson joining the team as a preferred walk on.

“Ever since I was little, I’ve been going to the camps there and been around the JMU atmosphere,” Nickel told the Daily News-Record in April. “To get an offer from there as my first makes it really special.”

Butler is also well connected to Madison through his sister, Tasia, who played three seasons for the Dukes after transferring from Syracuse and recently received a master’s degree from JMU.

Terrence Butler, a 4.0 student who also said academics will play a key role in his decision, had offers from JMU and Drexel and visited Harrisonburg last week even before college coaches were allowed to reach out directly.

Saturday, the first coaches could call players in the class of 2021, Butler heard from more than 10 schools, including Kansas, Georgetown and Virginia Tech, and said the Jayhawks in particular were eager to get him on campus for a visit.

But, he said the experience of his sisters has helped him realize there’s more to the process than simply picking the biggest or most prestigious program.

“I just want a good fit,” Butler said. “Tasia was at Syracuse, but really loved the atmosphere and weather at JMU better. My other sister, Tiara, loved Syracuse and still goes up there. I know most of the major conferences are geared for players staying a year or two then move to professional, but I’d like to get my degree, enjoy college life and have fun playing. Xavier offered me, but then the coach left for Louisville. So I have to look at everything from coaches’ contracts, dorms versus housing, food choices, travel and lodging, etc.

“Yes, I guess in a perfect world I’d be at a Top 20 program near my family and starting, but the reality is only seven to eight players in those programs see the floor and even though you are being recruited, getting on the floor is another aspect to look at. I want to be in a program where I’m being pushed and challenged, but also given an opportunity to perform if I earned it.”

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