It’s been a bittersweet weekend for a bunch of Dukes considered NFL Prospects. It was not all that surprising, or disappointing, that no Dukes players were selected in the actual draft and as players and their agents have learned over the years, it’s often better to be signed as an Undrafted Free Agent than a late round pick. The UFA’s are often selected by teams specifically looking to fill needs while the late-round picks may have been selected as a “best player available” to a team with a logjam ahead of them at their position.
On the sweet side of the ledger, OL Mitchell Kirsch signed with the Chicago Bears, a squad in rebuilding mode that already has former Duke Daniel Brown who contributed a good deal late last season at TE. The Bears also invited special teams standout Rashard Davis to their rookie mini-camp. Because the schedule’s for teams’ rookie camps vary, Davis was actually able to also accept an invite to the New York Jets camp so he’ll have two shots to make an impression.
CB Taylor Reynolds, one of the players with the best JMU backstories in program history (bailed on a QB shot at his hometown school and hated rival Delaware, was switched to CB almost immediately in classic Mickey fashion his freshman year and suffered some unnecessary slings and arrows from fans during his learning curve early in his career before turning into an absolute stud his last couple seasons and earning this opportunity), will be taking his talents to the NFC Champion Atlanta Falcons after signing a free agent deal this weekend too.
On the bitter side however, somehow RB Khalid Abdullah has not yet gotten a call from a pro team. And this despite a number of less-talented backs (our completely unbiased opinion of course) including guys like New Hampshire’s Dalton Crosson getting chances. We’re still hoping Khalid will find a home at some point though! And we’d love to see Gage Steele find an opportunity too.
In other news, Softball is flat-out rolling right now but we’re hoping we’ll cover them in more detail later this week before the postseason begins with the CAA tourney. And the Duke Club found a new man to lead that critically important element of JMU Athletics that we’re very excited about but will cover in more detail this summer (hopefully after a program-defining run from Softball takes us deep into June!).
The 2017 NFL Draft kicks off tonight. It’s arguably the most over-hyped event of the sports calendar, but it’s a long time until JMU football kicks off so we’re talking about it. I haven’t been paying much attention, but I assume the big story focuses on whether Cleveland’s new front office will still take input from a homeless guy. That’s all well and good, but what we care about here is the Dukes. And we’d like to know if you think any Dukes will here their name called during the draft. We’re thinking that this won’t be the year, but several guys should land undrafted free agent slots. And call us crazy, but we wouldn’t be surprised if one or two of those guys ended up making a roster. Khalid Abdullah, Taylor Reynolds, Mitch Kirsch, and Gage Steele all have plenty of talent. Will they end up playing on Sundays? Vote in our poll and then let us know your thoughts in the comments.
[polldaddy poll=9733941]
HIGHLIGHTS | Cambry Arnold is 5’1 …but she looks like a giant as she ROBS UNCW of a hit! #GoDukes #NCAATop10 #SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/zSIZDF6Ww9
— JMU Softball (@JMUSoftball) April 23, 2017
Cambry Arnold is very talented. The versatile player is batting .388 and leads all JMU freshman with 12 multi-hit games this year. She is not however, very tall. At a listed height of 5’1″ you might not think she was much of a source of many defensive highlights in the outfield. You’d be wrong though. Today she climbed the wall for a snow cone catch to rob UNCW of an extra base hit. The play helped JMU secure a series sweep over the Seahawks. Megan good earned a win and a save from the circle and slugged a ridiculous 2.000 in the series. The Dukes moved to 39-6 overall.
This photo comes from Virginia Tech’s spring football game. We present it completely out of context and without comment.
Go Dukes!
The Basketball Tournament (TBT) is an annual 5 on 5 single elimination tourney that anyone over 18 can play in. The field will be made up of 64 teams competing for the winner-takes-all $2 million prize. ESPN will be broadcasting the games from the round of 16 on. This is the fourth year and it really is a fun event. But it’s not just for regular weekend warriors. Past tournaments have featured guys like Mike Bibby, Matt Bonner, and others with NBA experience. Most teams feature former college players and overseas professionals. It’s legit hoops.
Why is this important? Because former JMU Basketball manager Joe Kuykendall and former JMU Basketball Video Coordinator Kevin Allbright have put together a team. Of course it’s a team of former JMU ballers. It’s called the “The Founding Fathers.” So far, Ron Curry, AJ Davis, Devontae Morgan, Kyle Swanston, and James Millen have signed on. Other past Dukes greats are in negotiations to join as well.
Here’s the important part. Regular fans get to decide who plays in the TBT. The bracket will follow the same sort of four, sixteen team region format of another tourney you might be familiar with. And 9 teams in each region will get “bids” based on the results of an online vote. Seven other teams will be given at large bids, provided the reach a minimum number of votes and fulfill some other eligibility requirements. The final slot in each region will go to a team that plays its way in via a TBT Jamboree.
It’s an online vote people. That’s pretty much a JMU speciality at this point. So vote, vote vote! It’s a fun tourney and it’d be great to see some Dukes cut down the nets on ESPN and capture the $2 million prize. Oh yeah, one more thing. The fans who vote can get a cut of that prize. That’s right. Your vote could get some Dukes into TBT and net you some cash. The top 100 fans of the winning team will each take home between $1,000 and $20,000. That’s not a bad return for just voting. And rootin’.
Texas State head coach Everett Withers at spring game today saying he didn't like his players last year @BobcatReport @TxStateBobcats pic.twitter.com/yB4hjvsxHB
— Sports Night (@Sports_NightTX) April 15, 2017
First off, let us say that we sincerely appreciate the contributions Everett Withers made while serving as the head coach of JMU football. He injected some much needed enthusiasm into the program at a time it was needed. But the man seems to have never encountered a bad situation that wasn’t someone else’s fault. Now he implies that the players he inherited at Texas State weren’t good people. Surely that’s the reason the team struggled so badly on the field, right coach?
Look, we’d love to give him the benefit of the doubt here and assume that he just had a mixed up way of saying that he thought the new recruits were a better fit for his vision. That’s not it though. It really was just a dumb statement by a guy who doesn’t really see the big picture. JMU is so much better off with Mike Houston.
The 2016-2017 JMU basketball season was a disappointment. With one of the most experienced rosters in the CAA, JMU struggled mightily out of conference and then finished 8th in the CAA. However, they won a game in the CAA tournament for the first time in years. Perhaps more importantly, they showed no signs of quitting all season even after it was clear they were out of the running. That’s no small thing in our humble opinion.
To be honest, we were as shocked as anyone when JMU hired Lou Rowe. We loved watching him play and consider him one of our all time favorite Dukes. He lacked any head coaching experience and this past year showed that he’s got room to improve on the Xs and Os side of things. However, like we mentioned, his players never quit and they sure seemed to buy into what he was selling. Unfortunately, those things weren’t consistently true during former coach Matt Brady’s time at the helm.
Rowe’s in game coaching will improve with more game reps. In today’s college basketball game, talent trumps pretty much everything anyway. If Rowe can recruit well and build a positive culture for JMU basketball, the Dukes could finally be a year in and year out contender in the CAA. Fortunately, Rowe seems to be doing both those things. His first full recruiting class has us particularly excited.
Darius Banks is the latest signee for the Dukes. He’s a 6’5″ shooting guard out of St. Petersburg, Florida. He was rated as a 3 star recruit by ESPN and Scout and is ranked the 34th best recruit at his position in the country. Banks signed last week and joined four other recruits who signed in the Fall. Along with Banks, Zach Jacobs, Greg Jones, Matt Lewis, and Dwight Wilson make a very intriguing 5 man class.
Jacobs was the Richmond All-Metro Player of the Year after averaging 21 points and 9 boards as a 6’8″ forward for Trinity Episcopal. Jones joined Jacobs on the Richmond All-Metro First Team. He’s a 6’6″ forward who can bang down low and hit from outside. He averaged 18 and 9 and shot 36% from long range for John Marshall. Matt Lewis is another Virginia recruit. He landed on the Washington Post’s All-Met Third Team. The fact that he played for O’Connell High School is gross (Go PVI!). But we can overlook that now that he’s a Duke. Playing at O’Connell means he played in the WCAC, arguably the top high school hoops league in the country. That’s huge. Lewis played against ACC, Big 10, and Big East recruits all year and managed to score in double figures while running the point. He’s a good get and hopefully he’s a sign that JMU will finally open up a WCAC/DMV recruiting pipeline. And finally Dwight Wilson is another Florida recruit. Listed at 6’8″ and 245 lbs, he averaged 16 points and a ridiculous 17 boards a game as a junior. Those rebounding numbers have us drooling.
JMU took some lumps this past season. That was obvious. But ask anyone who ever played with Rowe or knows him well, and they’ll go on and on about how he’s the perfect guy for JMU. They’ll swear he’s got a clear vision of what he wants the JMU basketball program to be. And that he’s got an undeniable ability to recognize talent and sell recruits on that vision. This recruiting class has us thinking they might be right.
You’re darn right we’ve got spring game coverage this year. That’s what another title and a beautiful Saturday in the Valley get you – a legit tailgate and crowd at your spring game. And thankfully for us, our #1 staffer and friend of the pod (just sounds better than friend of JMUSB and maybe saying it will motivate us) Mike Evangelista (@Michael_2Clutch) was kind enough to break it down for us with editorial flair we might add. Huge thank you Michael! Enjoy:
The annual spring game is often a confusing time for the casual spectator: “Who is JMU playing?” “I thought football season is in the fall?” “Didn’t the season end in like November?” For others like us, it’s a teaser for next season’s campaign; a time to be overly critical and read into every inaccurate pass, missed block or tackle. Let’s all admit, nobody predicted the Bryan Schor we saw last spring was going to morph into the best quarterback in the country, capable of orchestrating a game winning drive to take down the Bison at the Fargodome.
Coming off a historic 14-1 campaign that ended with a national championship, the buzz is “real” in Harrisonburg and fans all over the world are certainly drinking the kool-aid; just take a peak in the “JMU Nation” group on Facebook…if you can get in. On a beautiful 65-degree Saturday afternoon, the fans certainly came out in full force; packing Godwin Field to tailgate, to enjoy a picturesque JMU afternoon and more importantly, to support the Dukes.
Here are a few of my thoughts on the game:
- Elite Defense – Mike Houston’s hire of former Richmond Defensive Coordinator / Rocco staffer, Bob Trott, has paid massive dividends for the Dukes. His defense looked fast, physical, sound, and dominant during the spring game. Notably, the defensive line was stout and the safeties filled the run lanes with reckless abandon. The defense had 3 interceptions (D’Angelo Amos, Adam Smith and Jordan Brown), a blocked field goal returned for a TD (Jordan Brown), and 4 sacks from a number of defenders. Moreover, key players like Dimitri Holloway, Darrious Carter, and Raven Greene were all inactive which made the performance even more impressive. Additionally, it was refreshing to see Andrew Ankrah in a true 3-point stance all game rather than in that awkward 2-point stance you’d often catch him in. Coming off the tremendous momentum during the playoffs, Trott’s gang will be even better for 2017 and should be one of the top units in the country.
- Physicality – While it’s difficult to put much weight on a glorified practice session, the level of physicality and competitiveness was evident. On defense, players like Maryland transfer linebacker Gus Little and senior safety Jordan Brown seemed to be in on every defensive stop and newbies like freshman safety Reggie Collins, freshman defensive end Marcus Hawkins, freshman safety D’Angelo Amos and freshman defensive tackle Rondre Knowles-Tener made their presence known. On offense, the size of sophomore wide receiver Riley Stapleton and freshman Braxton Westfield were difficult to contain on the outside while back-up sophomore tight end Nick Carlton made some noise down the seem versus the linebackers. While outmanned without their starting offensive tackles (Aaron Stinnie and Tyree Chavious), sophomore Mac Patrick looks to be a future all-conference player and sophomore left tackle Jahee Jackson showed potential on the blindside.
- Bad Special Teams – JMU’s specialists struggled during the afternoon with shanked punts, blocked field goals, and even when the field goals did go in, the procedure wasn’t pretty. All of us held our breath before each kick. In one particular play near the end, Jeremiah McBride finally got his foot on the ball just right resulting in a booming punt; some of us even stood up and gave a nice encouraging golf clap to end the day. The good news is our starting kicker, Tyler Gray, was inactive, we have an Aussie punter coming in that’s supposed to be pretty darn good, and we had John Miller and Jimmy Moreland line up as returners. The JMU special teams unit has a long way to go but has plenty of time to improve under the tutelage of John Bowers.
Can’t wait to watch this guy…
All in all, it was a successful day for the Dukes. The fan support was outstanding and there was plenty to be excited about. Cole Johnson aka “Baby Giraffe” got banged up a bit but definitely looked the part as the future quarterback of JMU, Georgia Tech transfer Marcus Marshall’s strength and speed will be a difference maker in the fall, and JMU should be even better on the offensive and defensive lines given the returning talent. Last but not least, there were a number of offers given out to a few highly touted recruits and…there may have even been a little rumor of a P5 transfer joining the program in the coming weeks.
Hope you enjoyed this year’s recap and Go Dukes!!!
Notable Prospect Offers:
LB Mateo Jackson, Hermitage HS (VA): 6’2 220, offers include Navy, Army and Richmond
RB Cole Beck, Blacksburg HS (VA): 6’1 185, offers include Western Michigan, Marshall, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Appalachian State, East Carolina, Delaware State, Kentucky Christian and Massachusetts
LB Jamar Darboe, Christchurch School (SC): 6’1 230, offers include Maryland, East Carolina, Liberty, Howard, East Tennessee State
OL Henry Chibueze, Woodbridge High School (VA): 6’2 330, offers include East Carolina, Liberty, North Carolina
RB / FS Rakeem Davis, Charlottesville High School (VA): 5’9 165, younger brother of WR Rashard Davis
but don’t forget about this guy!
There’s a lot going on in this picture. Yeah, it’s everyone’s favorite backwards cowboy hat wearing, Bryan Schor lookalike university president tossing out the ceremonial first pitch, but it’s more than that. We love it. And for so many reasons. The Jim Harbaugh approved sartorial choices. The full extension on the release. The fact that it’s a slow pitch lob before a fast pitch game. (Is that normal?)
But the lesson here is clear folks. If you every get asked to throw out a ceremonial first pitch, be careful. Because even if it’s perfectly executed and far from a Baba Booey or 50 Cent sort of disaster, snarky bloggers with nothing else to write about in the offseason will find slightly awkward still frames and poke fun for no good reason.
Cheers to President Alger for doing this and h/t to @ryanbarto for the pic.
We realize there are lots of spring sports doing lots of great things. And we realize the Spring Football Game is coming up this Saturday, but it’s just impossible not to keep talking softball. Over the weekend, not only did they win the series of Charleston with a walk-off comeback, but Megan Good tied her predecessor Jailyn Ford for the program record of 82 wins. Her career record stands at 82-7. Read that last sentence again and tell me how we can talk about anything else right now? And go back and watch the highlights in those links and tell me you wouldn’t love to go catch a game? (Hoping to be in Chapel Hill on the 26th for the last P5 matchups of the regular season). If you’re in or near the ‘Burg, the Dukes host that school from over Afton Mountain that is basically an institutional representation of a boat shoe in a doubleheader in tomorrow!
The team stands at 30-5 on the season and is on the fringe of the top ten nationally. We should note they’ve dropped a game in each CAA series so far and it’s really hard to see them moving into the top eight like last year which would set up another home super-regional. The Dukes also need the offense to kick in with some run support when Good isn’t on the mound to take some pressure off of Freshman #2 Odicci Alexander and the rest of the staff.
Finally, the Duke Club debuted a beautiful piece of nerd-dom at softball over the weekend with this shirt which we love. Orienteers, geocachers, and old guys unite!
