{"id":6489,"date":"2014-02-05T15:44:55","date_gmt":"2014-02-05T20:44:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=6489"},"modified":"2014-02-05T15:57:59","modified_gmt":"2014-02-05T20:57:59","slug":"everett-withers-signs-14-to-his-first-jmu-recruiting-class","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=6489","title":{"rendered":"Everett Withers Signs 14 to His First JMU Recruiting Class"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"EverettWithersJMU\"<\/a>Today is National Signing Day. It’s an exciting day for college football fans, albeit one that often serves as evidence that they hype surrounding the game can sometimes overshadow the game itself. \u00a0With that being said, like most of you, we were very anxious to see what sort of recruits Coach Withers and his staff could sign in their first year. While it’s impossible to really evaluate any recruits until after they played, there are a few general things about the class that we find encouraging.<\/p>\n

Of the 14 recruits who make up this class, 8 are from states other than Virginia. Coach Withers said that he’d like to consistently get about 50% of his recruits from Virginia, depending on the depth of talent in any given year. The majority of the 8 out of state recruits are from the South, with only QB Rob Nittolo coming from up North (New Jersey). JMU’s other recruits are from North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida. Many fans assumed that the hiring of Withers would result in a shift to a more Southeastern-based recruiting class. Early indications are that might be true. And considering the Southeast is filthy with football talent, that might be a good thing.<\/p>\n

The other thing that jumped out at us was the fact that JMU appeared to make successful pushes for a few of the recruits real late in the game. In particular, we noticed that the Rivals profiles for John Miller and Jimmy Moreland, didn’t even list JMU under their college choices. Considering Withers and his staff have only been in place for a few months, they were going to be late recruiting a lot of guys. The fact that they pulled a few in who apparently didn’t even JMU on their radar speaks to their ability to sell the program.<\/p>\n

And if you’re one who cares about Rivals stars and rankings, you’ll be pleased to know the class includes 4 players with 2 stars (Jimmy Moreland, John Miller, Taylor Woods, and Cornell Urquhart) and one with 3 stars (Vad Lee). Personally, we think way too much is made about stars and what recruiting “experts” say. We’re excited to have these guys join the Dukes, but fully expect some of the guys without stars to have just as big an impact as some of those who do.<\/p>\n

It’s also worth noting that Withers has a much different philosophy than his predecessor Mickey Matthews when it comes to redshirting. History showed us that Matthews almost redshirted everyone by default and would rarely play true freshmen. Withers on the other hand said “We have no plans to redshirt anybody. If a guy is ready, we’ll put him on the field.” That doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll see all these recruits making plays in the fall, but it’s possible. And that seems perfectly in line with Withers general philosophy that he wants competition for every spot on the field with the best guy getting the snaps.<\/p>\n

The table below from jmusports.com includes the full 2014 recruiting class.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Time<\/strong><\/td>\nName<\/strong><\/td>\nPos.\u00a0<\/strong><\/td>\nCl.<\/strong><\/td>\nHt.<\/strong><\/td>\nWt.<\/strong><\/td>\nHometown\/High School \u00a0<\/strong><\/td>\nHighlights\u00a0<\/strong><\/td>\nWithers<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Spring<\/td>\nVad Lee<\/a><\/td>\nQB<\/td>\nR-Jr.<\/td>\n6-1<\/td>\n215<\/td>\nDurham, N.C.\/Hillside (Georgia Tech)<\/td>\n<\/td>\nLink<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Spring<\/td>\nRob Nittolo<\/a><\/td>\nQB<\/td>\nFr.<\/td>\n6-2<\/td>\n200<\/td>\nHillsborough, N.J.\/Hillsborough<\/td>\nLink<\/a><\/td>\nLink<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8:22 a.m.<\/td>\nK.J. Ford<\/a><\/td>\nDT<\/td>\nFr.<\/td>\n6-1<\/td>\n280<\/td>\nBluffton, S.C.\/Bluffton<\/td>\nLink<\/a><\/td>\nLink<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8:28 a.m.<\/td>\nAbraham “AB” Rhodes<\/a><\/td>\nLB<\/td>\nFr.<\/td>\n6-3<\/td>\n230<\/td>\nRichmond, Va.\/Mills E. Godwin<\/td>\nLink<\/a><\/td>\nLink<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8:47 a.m.<\/td>\nTyler Thrasher-Walker\u00a0<\/a><\/td>\nRB<\/td>\nFr.<\/td>\n6-3<\/td>\n200<\/td>\nChantilly, Va.\/Westfield<\/td>\nLink<\/a><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8:52 a.m.<\/td>\nRichard Xu<\/a><\/td>\nOL<\/td>\nFr.<\/td>\n6-5<\/td>\n280<\/td>\nAshburn, Va.\/Stone Bridge<\/td>\nLink<\/a><\/td>\nLink<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9:29 a.m.<\/td>\nDavid Ezeagwu<\/a><\/td>\nDE\/LB<\/td>\nFr.<\/td>\n6-3<\/td>\n225<\/td>\nStafford, Va.\/Colonial Forge<\/td>\nLink<\/a><\/td>\nLink<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9:37 a.m.<\/td>\nKapri Doucet<\/a><\/td>\nLB<\/td>\nFr.<\/td>\n6-2<\/td>\n220<\/td>\nWilliamsburg, Va.\/Bruton<\/td>\nLink<\/a><\/td>\nLink<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9:45 a.m.<\/td>\nMarcell Johnson<\/a><\/td>\nLB<\/td>\nFr.<\/td>\n6-2<\/td>\n195<\/td>\nKnightdale, N.C.\/Knightdale<\/td>\nLink<\/a><\/td>\nLink<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9:54 a.m.<\/td>\nJohn Miller<\/a><\/td>\nRB\/ATH<\/td>\nFr.<\/td>\n5-10<\/td>\n175<\/td>\nColumbia, S.C.\/Spring Valley<\/td>\nLink<\/a><\/td>\nLink<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10:02 a.m.<\/td>\nJimmy Moreland<\/a><\/td>\nDB<\/td>\nFr.<\/td>\n5-10<\/td>\n180<\/td>\nRoyal Palm Beach, Fla.\/Royal Palm Beach<\/td>\nLink<\/a><\/td>\nLink<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10:13 a.m.<\/td>\nAaron Peak<\/a><\/td>\nDB<\/td>\nFr.<\/td>\n5-9<\/td>\n175<\/td>\nBlythewood, S.C.\/Blythewood<\/td>\nLink<\/a><\/td>\nLink<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10:21 a.m.<\/td>\nTaylor Woods<\/a><\/td>\nRB<\/td>\nFr.<\/td>\n5-9<\/td>\n180<\/td>\nHavelock, N.C.\/Havelock<\/td>\nLink<\/a><\/td>\nLink<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10:24 a.m.<\/td>\nCornell Urquhart<\/a><\/td>\nDE<\/td>\nFr.<\/td>\n6-4<\/td>\n255<\/td>\nRichmond, Va.\/Benedictine Prep<\/td>\nLink<\/a><\/td>\nLink<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n
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