The effort to bolster its defense with experience continued Wednesday evening when James Madison earned a commitment from Eastern Michigan transfer defensive back Jalen Phelps.
Phelps announced his decision via Twitter.
He’s the fifth defender from the transfer portal the Dukes have added for this coming fall. Here’s more on Phelps…
Need To Know: Phelps didn’t play this past season for the Eagles, having initially entered the portal last summer. He’s a graduate transfer with one season of eligibility left and can play either cornerback or strong safety.
As a senior in 2019, he only appeared in four games to keep his redshirt season intact.
The 5-foot-11, 175-pounder is a Powder Springs, Ga., native and played in 42 games and started in nine for the Eagles. He racked up 88 total tackles to go along with eight pass breakups during his stay in the Mid-American Conference.
In High School: He was a two-star prospect by Rivals.com and garnered other scholarship offers from Georgia State and Kent State. While starring for Hillgrove High School as a senior, he made 92 tackles, had nine pass breakups, recorded three interceptions and had a punt return for a touchdown. He earned Georgia Athletic Coaches Association First Team All-State accolades as a defensive back.
Fitting With The Dukes: Considering Phelps only has one season to spend with the Dukes, it’s safe to assume he’s coming with the intent of making an instant impact and that the coaching staff will give him the opportunity to do so.
He’ll join a veteran secondary, which is shaping up to be one of the top defensive backfields in the FCS. It’ll be the job of JMU defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman along with cornerbacks coach Matt Birkett and safeties coach Marcus Hall-Oliver to figure out how Phelps can most effectively help the defense.
VMI transfer defensive back Josh ‘Cheese’ Sarratt told the DN-R last month that coaches wanted to see him in person before deciding whether he’ll play safety or rover, and it’s probably the same in regard to Phelps and whether he’ll play corner or safety.
At cornerback, JMU returns seniors Wesley McCormick, Greg Ross and Taurus Carroll. All three started multiple times this past spring, and McCormick was the best of the bunch while tallying three interceptions.
Dukes senior safeties Wayne Davis and MJ Hampton are experienced, too, and third-year sophomore Que Reid returns also. Sarratt is joining the group. But in 2018 – Phelps’ last full season – the majority of his starts at Eastern Michigan came as a safety, so it’s possible that is where he’ll feel most comfortable.
