MADIA: Examining JMU's 2020 Class To This Point

James Madison hasn’t even played a game yet this season, but its new coaching staff has already proven it can win battles.

With the addition of Mater Dei (Middletown, N.J.) defensive end Khurram Simpson and Franklin (Reistertown, Md.) defensive back Xavier Cokley on Monday, the Dukes are up to eight commitments for their 2020 recruiting class.

“It’s got a very strong brand,” first-year JMU coach Curt Cignetti said of his new school last week at Colonial Athletic Association media day in Baltimore. “It’s a great recruiting brand. We regularly out-recruit mid-major FBS schools for players and so, from that standpoint, it’s been pretty much what I expected.”

All eight pledges gave their verbal within the last seven weeks, showing Cignetti and company use their prospect camps as a successful recruiting tool. The Dukes have held six camps since June 14.

This past Friday was the final one-day camp of the summer for the program and this coming Thursday a dead period in the recruiting calendar begins. With that in mind, it’s a great time to examine what JMU has done on the recruiting trail to this point.

The eight commitments in the class come from six different states — Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Ohio, New Jersey and Virginia; three are offensive players and five are defensive.

“We’re looking good right now,” Simpson said of the class JMU has assembled so far.

Two of the three offensive players are linemen and two of the five defensive players are linemen, displaying the emphasis Cignetti and his staff places on the need for strong frontline talent.

Of the eight commits, five had offers from FBS programs and Life Christian Academy cornerback AJ Webb, a former Virginia commit and three-star prospect by Rivals.com, earned other Power Five offers from Pittsburgh and Rutgers. Webb, Ocean Lakes offensive lineman Tyler Stephens, Stone Bridge defensive end Mikail Kamara, St. Frances Desales (Columbus, Ohio) offensive lineman Cole Potts and Buckingham Browne and Nichols School (Cambridge, Mass.) defensive back Sam Malignaggi each had multiple Group of Five offers, validating Cignetti’s comment about the Dukes competing well against FBS programs for players.

Those five prospects, plus Simpson and Cokley, all had at least one offer from a program in the CAA, providing evidence JMU has no problem beating out its conference foes for players.

He isn’t the most highly-rated prospect or hasn’t earn the most offers for any player part of JMU’s recruiting class, but West Lafayette (Ind.) quarterback Kyle Adams is the most accomplished of the bunch at the prep level.

Adams threw for 3,945 yards and 47 touchdowns as a junior last year while leading West Lafayette to a state title. He was an Indiana Football Coaches Association Class 3A all-state selection, too.

And anytime a college program takes a quarterback, the coaches on that staff have to view — fairly or unfairly — the signal-caller as a future on-field leader for their team. The stakes are heightened even more so at JMU because the program hasn’t a secured a quarterback since signing Gage Moloney as part of its 2017 class.

When Adams made his commitment he said he believes he can transition smoothly to the college level since his high school offense is similar to what Madison will do under Cignetti and offensive coordinator Shane Montgomery.

“It was exactly what we do at home,” Adams said. “We’re up-tempo and move the ball downfield. We take what the defense gives us. If they’re going to let us run the ball, we’re going to run it. If they’re going to let us pass the ball, we’re going to pass it. We’re going to get the ball into the athletes’ hands and let them do their thing. And I love the [run-pass option] [Montgomery]’s utilizing, too. That’s something I’ve been doing at the high school level for the past two years.”

With Kamara, Stephens and Webb in the fold, JMU landed three sought-after prospects from three of the most competitive recruiting areas within the state — Kamara from northern Virginia, Stephens from the 757 and Webb from just south of Richmond.

“I knew I wanted to go to a Virginia school,” Stephens said following his commitment, “play for a Virginia team and get a good education while also playing great football.”

Upon arriving at JMU this past December, one question Cignetti would need time to answer was whether or not his staff could continue to help JMU succeed in the state like previous coach Mike Houston did. Cignetti has answered that with those three commitments alone.

In addition to the Power Five schools, Old Dominion and William & Mary were after Webb. Stephens had 26 total offers including ones from Liberty, Old Dominion, Richmond and William & Mary. Richmond offered Kamara.

From conversations with the eight players committed to JMU for 2020, it’s clear all of Cignetti’s staff members have a role in building this class.

Montgomery was the lead recruiter on Adams while defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman led on Simpson. Running backs coach Matt Merritt took charge on landing Potts, but got help from offensive line coach Damian Wroblewski to secure the commitment. Wroblewski aided corners coach Matt Birkett, too, in recruiting Stephens. Birkett and safeties coach Ryan Smith were directly involved with Webb and Malignaggi. Wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator Mike Shanahan took the lead on Kamara, the first pledge in the class.