Men’s Hoops Back on Track and Football Signing Day a Success (maybe?)

Tough day for blogging here at JMUSB HQ.  Damn life getting in the way of JMU items!  But lots of positive JMU news and we didn’t want to miss this morning entirely.

This pic never gets old. Hahahaha.

First, we’re delighted to report that the men’s hoops team did what we all hoped:  they put the Mason loss behind them and dealt with the task at hand, in this case a William & Mary team that has been killing the Dukes the last few years.  You can read about the game over at JMU Sports, but needless to say this was that game for mercurial wingman AJ Davis, who went bananas and pretty much singlehandedly crushed the pantless Griffins’ souls in this one with a barrage of dunks and treys that shows Brady (and guys like us) why you can imagine a March to remember.

And secondly, it was National Signing Day for football recruits.  We’ve gone both ways with this in past years.  Rob has given JMU signing day an exhaustive treatment complete with highlights and analysis of each player.  But as we’ve all become very aware, this quickly becomes counter-productive as guys quit for lack of playing time or get thrown out for accumulating points for JMU in the Fulmer Cup.  Because of this, we’ve also gone the opposite way and said “this is crap, nothing to see till they take the field.”  This year, maybe just a few highlights.

– As we all know, the biggest offseason signing is OC Hal Mumme, not the players!  No way to describe how exciting this news really is.

– JMU signed FIVE WR’s this year and with Mumme, it appears they intend to use them as something other than blockers.  Gotta think those kids are really excited.

– One of those WR’s is the highlight in terms of recruiting rankings (take ’em for what they are: speculative at best).  Three-star WR Brandon Ravenel from North Stafford HS.  Can’t wait to see him in the Air Raid.

– The Dukes also signed five defensive linemen, which given the difficulty rushing the passer without extra blitzers that we bemoaned quite a bit last year seems to make good sense.

– Other than a couple TE’s and an “OL/DL” recruit, no O-linemen at all this year, but transfers are always still a possibility and at least in the short-term, the Dukes return four starters on the line for this season barring changes.

– Another bit of good news is that on the heels of a disappointing season and a bit of thrashing about in the program in terms of players discontent, the Dukes only lost one recruit they thought they had.  And that was a QB to W&M that was likely recruited for the MM/Durden “offense,” not the Air Raid.  Four QB’s returning as well including presumed starter Michael Birdsong and seemingly clear-cut backup in Lafonte Thoroughgood.

– If you like Mickeyisms and ridonkulous hyperbole, we encourage you to check out Mickey’s signing day presser over on MadiZone, you won’t be disappointed.