LB Binkowski Was Waiting On JMU's Offer
Matt Binkowski had plenty of offers to mull before this past Friday.
But the Battlefield (Haymarket) linebacker was still waiting on the one opportunity he said he knew he’d accept if it came his way.
“I was building relationships with JMU for a while now,” Binkowski told the Daily News-Record on Saturday. “They just wanted to wait until the time was right and when the time was right, I was ready.”
James Madison offered Binkowski on Friday, he said, and he joined the Dukes’ 2021 recruiting class later in the day.
The decision to make his verbal commitment to JMU ended a pursuit from the school that began about 18 months ago and dated back to the program’s previous coaching staff. Binkowski said the first recruiting trip he ever took to any school was when he visited Bridgeforth Stadium for the Dukes’ 48-31 win over Rhode Island on Nov. 10, 2018.
“It was just the atmosphere there,” he said. “The games are just insane, and the fans are so supportive.”
JMU was the 25th school to offer Binkowski, a 2019 All-Cedar Run District first-team choice as an all-purpose player on offense and first-team selection at defensive end on defense.
Of his 25 unique opportunities, 18 were from programs in the FCS and seven were from FBS schools. Four of the Dukes’ fellow Colonial Athletic Association members – Elon, Richmond, Towson and William & Mary – also offered Binkowski a scholarship. Air Force, Army and Navy, the three major service academies recruited him, too. And Rutgers, a member of the Big Ten, offered him also.
Prior to the Dukes making their offer to the linebacker, he had publicly via Twitter narrowed his choices down to 12 schools – Air Force, Army, Elon, Furman, Harvard, Liberty, Navy, Old Dominion, Richmond, Temple, Towson and William & Mary.
“Had a lot of great options, but at the end of the day JMU was the best fit for me,” Binkowski said.
The Rivals.com three-star linebacker credited JMU linebackers coach Bryant Haines and defensive tackles coach Marcus Hall-Oliver for developing trust with him. Hall-Oliver was the lead recruiter on Binkowski, he said, and Haines will be Binkowski’s position coach once he arrives in Harrisonburg.
“[Haines] has a lot of energy,” Binkowski said. “He’s excited about me and I think he’s a great coach. I’m excited to get down there and work with him. And that’s the same thing with [Hall-Oliver]. He’s very energetic and thinks very highly of me. I’m anxious to get down there, spend a lot of time with them and work with them.”
Binkowski said he’s viewed as a future WILL linebacker by JMU’s staff. Former All-CAA linebacker Dimitri Holloway filled that role in 2019 for the Dukes.
“I think what jumps out to me is I’m very versatile,” Binkowski said. “I’m going to JMU to play middle linebacker, but I always think I can play any position on the field when needed.”
He said his experience taking successful snaps at running back helps him on defense. Binkowski had a five-touchdown (four rushing, one receiving) performance in Battlefield’s win over Osbourn this past November.
“It’s definitely awesome to be able to play that spot, so you can adapt,” Binkowski said. “When you play running back, you have those tendencies and when you’re at linebacker you can read them.”