QB Barnett III Is First On Board For '22 Class

He was fully invested in his own mission and at the same time understood what James Madison had to witness from him.

On Saturday during the Dukes’ first one-day prospect camp of the summer, Grimsley (Greensboro, N.C.) quarterback Alonza Barnett III let his arm answer any questions the staff may have had, earned a scholarship offer from JMU and became the first commitment in the program’s 2022 recruiting class.

He announced his decision early Sunday on Twitter.

“They had expressed that I was number one on their board,” Barnett told the Daily News-Record, “but they needed to confirm that with what they saw in camp.”

Barnett said he spoke with JMU coach Curt Cignetti prior to the camp’s start and that Cignetti was the one who extended the offer at the conclusion of drills.

“When I talked to him at first, it was just detailing general knowledge about the university,” Barnett said of his encounters with Cignetti. “And then afterward, it was about my performance and what the next step was.”

Barnett, a 6-foot, 195-pounder, led Grimsley last month to capture its first state championship in 61 years. The Whirlies knocked off Cardinal Gibbons to win the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 4A title game at UNC’s Kenan Memorial Stadium in Chapel Hill.

During Grimsley’s 10-game spring season, Barnett completed 64 percent of his passes for 1,806 yards and 23 touchdowns with only three interceptions. He also rushed for 434 yards and nine scores on 88 carries.

He said he began talking regularly with JMU running backs coach John Miller, his lead recruiter, toward the end of both parties’ respective seasons. Then, according to the quarterback, once first-year quarterbacks coach Tino Sunseri joined the JMU staff in May, he joined Miller in pursuit of Barnett and played a large role, too.

Previously, Sunseri was an offensive analyst at Alabama and worked closely with ex-Crimson Tide quarterbacks Tua Tagovailoa and Mac Jones, who are both in the NFL now.

“Coach Miller and me, we’re pretty tight,” Barnett said, “and we’ve been talking a lot over text just about how the season was going and what I’m looking for in a program. And I think Coach Sunseri is definitely one of the bright young minds who is on the rise, with the concepts he’s bringing with him from Alabama.”

Barnett said Sunseri ran him through individual drills and coached him up during one-on-ones and the seven-on-seven period in camp on Saturday.

Before earning the offer from JMU and committing to the Dukes, Barnett was also considering Florida A&M, Georgia State, Miami (Ohio), Old Dominion and North Carolina A&T, he said. He had visited those schools since the dead period ended earlier this month and earned offers from those programs, too.

“It’s been real crazy trying to fit 18 months of recruiting into one,” Barnett said. “So, I have had to miss a couple of school practices to go to different camps and visits, and so what I was looking for was a place I felt comfortable with so I could commit and shut it down before the [fall] season.”

He said he’s also thrilled to be the first commit in this cycle for JMU.

“It means a lot and it sets the tone with how the 2022 class will be,” Barnett said. “It’ll be a loaded class and I’m ready to work.”