Coach Brady Owns Ohio
JMU recruit, A.J. Davis
It’s been tough to keep track of Coach Brady’s recruiting this offseason. As fans we were forced to sift through rumors on Twitter and do our best to read the crystal ball. However, it appears that Brady has finally wrapped things up and has finalized a class of five recruits.
This isn’t exactly breaking news, but I was on vacation when it was announced. The short version of the story is that this class appears to be worth the wait. Yes, it’s a bit unusual to still be recruiting in the summertime, but I’d rather have a coach like Brady who continued to fight for the guys he wants, instead of settling for guys who’ll sign early.
Chad Jackson is the only high school recruit in the class. He’s was a finalist for Mr. Basketball in Kentuck and sounds like a great prospect. Lucky for him, with fellow recruits coming in the form of transfers and JUCO players, he’ll likely get a chance to develop without being thrown into the middle of things too quickly. Plus, he can dunk like this.
6’6″ guard A.J. Davis will sit out this season after transferring from Wyoming, but have 2 years of eligibility for the Dukes. He played his high school ball in Columbus, Ohio. Rayshawn Goins and James Millen played JUCO ball at Cincinnati State, where their team finished as NJCAA-Division II runner-up. Prior to Cincinnati State, both guys played their high school ball in Ohio. Completing the recruiting class is Anthony Hitchens. Hitchens comes to the Dukes from University of Akron, where he played guard on the 2009 NCAA tournament team. He’ll also sit out this season, but have 2 years of eligibility. Hitchens played his high school ball in, you guessed it, Ohio.
Why is Coach Brady recruiting so successfully in Ohio? Todd and I actually asked him that the last time we talked to him (Ed. Note – Yeah, same old joke. It was technically the only time we’ve ever talked to him.) He told us that a lot of the reason is because Devon Moore and Julius Wells are both from Ohio and they have a strong ties to a number of players through high school, AAU tournaments, etc. That works for me. If these recruits help JMU make it back to March Madness, then I say we lock Julius and Devon up as head recruiters the day they graduate.
