Lady Dukes defeat Northeastern

Today, the Lady Dukes faced Northeastern at the Convo fighting to remain tied for the #1 spot. It also happened to be Duke Dog Reading Program Day, which meant the Convo was packed. The total attendance of 5,347 was the second highest attendance ever at the Convo for a women's game (the record is still held by the Jan. 19, 1997 ODU game at 6,500). The ladies took care of business against a middle-of-the-pack CAA team and went up early and stayed up. They actually doubled NE's score for most of the first half of play. In the second half, Northeastern started to inch their way back, but it was never enough to get the fans too worried. For the most part, the loudest times of the game was when the Dukettes and cheerleaders were throwing out t-shirts to the very young, high-pitched crowd. It is a good thing the younger crowd was there, because the overlap crowd that was there to see yesterday's game against Mason I think was still drained of their energy and were emotionally drained for that dramatic win. This on the other hand was rather anti-climactic and the only time after the first 7 minutes and 15 seconds that the lead was in single digits was when Crew from Northeastern hit a 3-pointer with 13 seconds left in the game to cut the lead to 8. Sophomore Dawn Evans turned in another commanding performance with 32 points (10-23, 4-10 3's, 8-8 FT), 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and a steal. Jalissa Taylor also had a great game with 12 points (5-8, 2-2 FT) and 7 rebounds. Sarah Williams also contributed 12 points (5-16, 2-8, 0-2), 2 assists, and 3 steals. Nina Uqdah, while only scoring 2 points (1-1), grabbed 10 rebounds and had 3 assists. Kisha Stokes also played 15 minutes today and is hopefully on her way to recovering and getting healthy to get back to her normal self. With this 74-66 win, the Lady Dukes are now 16-6 (9-2) and will play again on Thursday night against Hofstra in the Convo. Come out and support!

Box Score | JMUSports.com

Turning Point? JMU Over Mason

Does everyone remember the longest Breeze article of the basketball season? The one making fun of Jim Larranaga, Mason's Coach, for calling their game with us a rivalry game and saying how big it was for their school? And then how people who actually know the history between the two programs and realize that when both schools have their highest turnouts in games against each other said there may be a little bit of a rivalry there? Well, Tim Chapman, if this wasn't a rivalry in recent history, I think it's safe to say that has changed. With a crowd of 5,470 on hand to watch this game, I think everyone involved in CAA basketball will agree that JMU Men's Basketball is BACK. Large shout out to all in attendance. This is what JMU basketball should be. Thank you for standing and cheering. This gives an invaluable boost to the players. A quick note to point out while you're reading the rest of this article: we played the entire game without Juwann James (the top JMU scorer and rebounder) and the second half without Andrey Semenov (the #5 JMU scorer and #3 rebounder).

The game started with the Dukes hitting very few shots, going down 0-6 4 minutes into the game. Then, as the flashbacks of last year started coming back, the threes started falling. Julius Wells was the one to first take the lid off the basket and Kyle, seeing that there was indeed a hole there for the ball to go through, started sinking his shots as well. This was, what I thought, the key to us winning with Juwann out, so I started getting excited. We were playing great defense and we were taking good shots that we were hitting. The rest of the half was a lot of back and forth between both teams that have been deemed some of the better defensive teams in the CAA. One of the best parts was when Dre Smith (who went 10-10 from behind the arc last year setting an NCAA record) completely airballed a 3-pointer. The half ended with JMU up 30-26, and looking around at some of the more passionate students, the look on their faces was what one could call cautious optimism. Everyone was thinking, "it could happen," but didn't want to say it out loud for fear of single-handedly jinxing the chances of losing such a big game.

As the band started back up to welcome the Dukes back onto the court, the arena stood up and cheered. The energy was building. As the Mason players walked out from their locker rooms, they looked like they didn't have any energy. This was noticeable when the half started with a 6-1 run by JMU. At the 16:35 mark, Kyle started a little scoring run of his own with two 3's and a layup that took the lead to a 14 point lead (44-30), the highest of the night. Then, thanks to missed shots, turnovers and some ridiculous fouls that were not being called both ways, Mason gradually its way back. They started playing a press defense also, which caused a lot of our problems. With the air starting to go out of the Convo and Mason fans getting louder, Mason player Andre Cornelius made a jumper at the 5:23 mark to take the lead, 57-58, for the first time since 15:19 in the first half. Another jumper by Monroe took their lead to 3. Luckily, this would be the largest lead they would have. Instead of getting quieter and staying seated, the JMU fans stood up and got louder. After nearly 3 minutes, Dazz hit a jumper and took the Dukes back on top, 63-62. In the last few minutes of the game, every time Mason got the ball, the Convo was...dare I say...electric. The entire arena was on their feet shouting. Even though JMU only hit one field goal the last four minutes of the game, the 7 made free throws were enough to keep us in the lead. With 1:07 left in the game, Mason called their last timeout, proving helpful at the end of the game. With 39 seconds left, Darryl Monroe got called for his fifth foul, leading the JMU fans to start in with this writer's favorite basketball tradition, the left-right chant. With four seconds left in the game, John Vaughn hit a jumper to drop the JMU lead down to 1. On the inbounds, Mason had to foul Devon Moore (84% FT shooter) and he hit 1 of 2. Without any timeouts and only 3 seconds left, Mason's Pearson grabbed the rebound and threw the ball with halfcourt. Though very close, it hit off the rim and as the buzzer went off, the celebrations began. The fans behind the baskets rushed the court as the band played the fight song to celebrate a 68-66 win over previously #2 in the CAA, George Mason.

Kyle finished with 19 points (5-11 from 3-point range), Dazz added 13 points (playing 29 minutes), and Devon added 11 points. Everyone on the Dukes played a solid game, including Matt Parker who came off the bench and made some big plays. The Dukes finished with a 46.8% FG%, 45% 3pt%, and hit 75% of our FT's, which is about on average.

Why is this a big win? Well, there's always that rivalry argument. Then there's the high standing that Mason has had for the last few years. Also, with the freshmen class scoring 24 points tonight, they have become the highest scoring freshman class in JMU's Division I program history. Their total of 739 points is the highest since the '76-'77 freshman class scored 733. But what is the biggest reason of all this is a big win? This win assures that the Dukes (16-9, 8-5) will finish with a winning record for the first time since the '99-'00 season. Could this be the turning point where our program returns to prominence? Will we start getting consistently high attendance numbers again? Am I asking too many questions in this post? Here's to Coach Matt Brady, the Men's Basketball team, the rest of the JMU Athletics program, and the JMU fans for brightening the lights of Madison!

The Dukes play @VCU on Wednesday night.
Update: Drexel lost to ODU tonight, putting JMU, Drexel, and ODU in a 3-way tie for #4 in the CAA. Also, Andrey was taken to RMH as a precautionary measure when he was experiencing dizziness and light-headedness during halftime.

JMUSports.com | Box Score
Photos

Mason vs. JMU Preview

So, the big day is almost upon us. George Mason (16-6, 9-3) will be playing our JMU Dukes (15-9, 7-5) at the Convo on Saturday at 2pm. The Mason game is always the best attended and loudest of the year (is that part of a rivalry? hmmm). Last year, in a season when we averaged 3,632 people a game, the Mason game drew in 6,659 people to the Convo. Unfortunately, Dre Smith of Mason decided to go 10-10 from behind the arc for an NCAA record that night and Mason beat JMU 96-75. JMU is on a 2 game winning streak (though they haven't won a home game since Jan 21) and Mason is on a 1 game winning streak (though they haven't won an away game since Jan 14). Kenpom.com has Mason winning by 3 and the lines in Vegas have Mason winning by 3.5. The worst news for the Dukes is that senior Juwann James is still out after doctors have determined that his recent attack may have been a reoccurance of the pericarditis he had earlier in the year. Without a strong inside presence, Andrey Semenov and Dazz Thorton will have to step up and our outside shooters will have to be hot from 3-point range like they were on Wednesday night at GSU. Either way, a double digit loss would be surprising, as I expect this one to come down to the last seconds.

The freshmen will be key tomorrow as they are every week. Specific numbers of how important they have been has just been brought to my attention today. Andrey, Devon, and Julius need a combined 18 points to become the highest scoring freshman class in JMU's division I history. 18 points?! One of them alone will probably break that record tomorrow. And not only that, but they only need approximately 300 points (with no fewer than eight games remaining) to become the highest scoring class in program history. The two classes ahead of them were the first years of the program when everyone was a freshman (Stielper, Dillard). This group is already the first time we've ever had three freshmen score at least 200 points in a season apiece. To hit the top mark, they would have to average 37.5 points per game (if only playing in 8 more games, so basically assuming a first round loss in the CAA tournament). Up to this point they are averaging about 30 points a game, but the last 5 games they have averaged 36.6 PPG. If they are playing well and Kyle is still on from long range, we definitely have a change tomorrow. From '90 to '98, JMU went 18-2 against Mason. Since then, the Dukes are 4-18 against the Patriots. Let's hope this will be the game where we turn the tide back the other way. I'll be looking for a crowd to break last year's Mason game. Get there early and be loud for the whole game. No leaving early for this one!

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W&M vs. the Lady Dukes

After the Lady Dukes got out to a slow start, they picked it up and kept JMU fans from getting nervous the rest of the game. I have to give props to three of the ladies last night. First up is junior Sarah Williams. After weeks of taking good shots that weren't falling, she finally figured out where her mechanics were messing her up. Sarah hit 3 3-pointers on her way to a season-high (and JMU career high - first year playing after transferring from UR) 18 points and grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds (12 defensive), while also adding 2 assists, 2 steals, and a blocked shot to her stats. It was an all-around great effort by Sarah for the entire 39 minutes that she played. Next up is freshman Kiara Francisco, who went 5-9 for FG's and 4-8 for FT's for a total of 14 points for the night...her total for year coming in was 13 points. She got the opportunity for 16 minutes of playing thanks to foul trouble from Lauren and Nina, but more on that later. To come in and play like that was great. Last, but certainly not least, was yet another outstanding performance by our actress turned #1 scorer in the nation Dawn Evans. She didn't quite hit her average, but she still had a game-high 21 points, dished out 6 assists, and got an awesome block that was probably one of the best parts of the night. Good supporting games were turned in by Courtney Hamner (3 pts, 3 rebs, 5 assists), Lauren Jimenez (9 points, 7 rebs, 2 assists, 1 blk) and Nina Uqdah (4 points, 7 rebs, 1 assist). It was a sloppier game with 18 turnovers, but other than that it was a good game by the Lady Dukes.

Now for the fun stories of the game. First up is probably the most incredibly bad free throw shooting performance I've ever seen (including from myself, and I don't play basketball). #15, Tiffany Benson, of the Tribe in the final 8 minutes of the game missed 12 straight free throws! The first few were kinda funny, just because anytime an opposing player misses a free throw, the students cheer. But once it got to 5 missed in a row, chants were started before each one. From the DNR article:

The JMU band and student section took so much pleasure in mercilessly taunting Benson that they cheered wildly ever time Benson - a 29.5 percent free-throw shooter going into the game - was fouled by the Dukes.

For the 12th free throw, all the JMU students sat down and quieted the crowd to throw Benson off again...and she missed her 12th straight. After another foul on W&M, Lauren Jiminez ended up standing closest to the students under the basket and we pleaded with her to foul Benson again, but she said she couldn't because she already had four fouls (a couple of which were bogus calls). Chalk 12 missed free throws in a row up in the column of things I thought I would never see happen by a Division I basketball player. Another great play from Lauren was when JMU was taking the ball up the floor, Taysha Pye wasn't watching behind her and when she turned to follow Dawn Evans, Lauren was waiting there to land a huge screen that knocked Taysha on backwards to the floor. It definitely got into Taysha's head because for the next few minutes she was constantly watching behind her nervously to see where Lauren was. It was probably the best middle-of-the-court screen I've ever seen. The final story of the game was the freshman Tribe player Aleia Gland, or I guess more the attention she brought. JMU junior Nathan Herchenrother (who picks an opposing player every game, even Men's games, to sing to) tried the whole game to get her to look at him or say something, but even after songs and multiple comments, the only smile he got from her was when he yelled at the W&M coach, "Debbie! Put Aleia in! She's beautiful!" All around a funny second half.

DNR: Dukes Relax, Beat Tribe | Box Score

Threes Rain Down to Lift JMU over GSU

On Wednesday night, the Dukes traveled down to Georgia State University. While it was clear outside, fans might have said something different about the weather inside. JMU hit 16 of 29 3-pointers (55.2%), topping their previous record of 13. The two biggest scorers of the night were freshman Julius Wells, who went 6 of 10 from behind the arc and had 24 total points, which was a career high and game high, and senior Kyle Swanston, who ended up hitting 7 of 12 3's and ended up with a career-tying 23 points. Two other large contributors in tonight's game were junior Pierre Curtis and sophomore Ben Louis, who both put in a ton of effort and were keys to getting so many good looks. Pierre played a great second half, finishing with 9 total points, 4 rebs, 5 assists, and 2 steals. While Ben finished the night with only 4 points, he added 4 assists, 3 steals, and in 23 hard-played minutes was in on many rebounds. Also solid, as always, were freshmen Andrey Semenov (11 pts, 5 rebs, 1 assit, 1 steal) and Devon Moore (9 pts, 3 rebs, 3 assists, 2 steals). As you can see, the freshmen are still playing outstanding basketball and are the best freshmen class in the conference. Coach Brady commented in the post-game interview that he didn't want to talk them up a lot at the start of the season, but wanted to let them make their own imprint. This has obviously happened as they combined for 43 points tonight and they have all won at least one CAA Rookie of the Week award with Wells on track for another one this week. Brady also went on to say that they have only scratched the surface of their potential and that they have a lot of improving to do. Our offense the second half was incredible, going for 52 points in 20 minutes.

Coach Brady pointed out that one of the things that worked great for us tonight was the ball movement, skip passes, and cross-court passes that got us many open shots. The Dukes also had only 9 turnovers compared to 17 assists, which is great considering the vaunted GSU defense. On the other hand, our defense wasn't at its best either and reminded me of last year's high scoring games, allowing them to shoot 51.8% (29-56) from the field. Though, they only shot 21.1% from behind the arc, making 4 of 19. With Juwann out (latest word is that he might have had a panic attack, still nothing definitive) we didn't have a great post presence, but did well considering. A final score of 82-69 shows how much of a difference it makes when Kyle is back on fire again at long range and the rest of our shooters are hitting as well. Let's hope it carries over.

The Dukes can expect a much better performance on the other side of the ball on Saturday against Mason, who is #2 in the CAA at 9-3 (16-6). Brady also added that we won't be getting 29 3's on Saturday against their outstanding defense. In news around the CAA, last place W&M beat #1 in the CAA NE (notching only their second CAA win of the season), and 11th place UNCW beat 2nd place VCU. #4 Drexel also lost to Delaware, dropping them to 8-4 in the CAA, making Saturday's game that much more important because Drexel will be playing ODU (who is tied with JMU for #5). This means that we can tie for #4 or be #5 outright with a win. Everyone needs to be there at 1pm (tip-off at 2pm) for the return of the Electric Zoo on February 7th!

DNR: Dukes Rain Threes

Semenov is Rookie of the Week

This week, after scoring 41 points over the last two games, Andrey Semenov was voted the CAA's Rookie of the Week. He scored 23 of his 25 points in the game @UNCW in the last half of the game, leading the Dukes on to their 14th win of the season. This also means that now all 3 of our freshmen have been named ROW this season. From the CAASports.com article:

Semenov, Devon Moore (14 pts) and Julius Wells (10 pts) combined for the most points by JMU freshmen in a game since 1979-80.

Also of note from the UNCW game, the Dukes were 15-of-15 at the FT line in the second half at UNCW and are shooting 75.5% from the stripe for the year.

2009 JMU Football Recruits: Official

In no particular order:

1) Adrian Cavanaugh - LB - Ashland (VA) Patrick Henry
3 star recruit: 5-11 210 lbs, 4.6 40; offers - Navy, Richmond
Cavanaugh registered 155 tackles, five sacks and three fumble recoveries on his way to first-team All-District, All-Region, All-Metro and All-Academic honors as a junior.
Notes: Was a great 2-way player in high school. Along with being a LB, he was an outstanding RB.

2) Jonathon Sharp - TE - Fork Union (VA) Fork Union M.A.
3 star recruit: 6-4, 230 lbs, 4.58 40; offers - Kent State, Albany, UMass, Temple, Memphis, Akron
Played LB in HS as well.

3) Leavander Jones - WR - Atlantic City (NJ) Atlantic City
2 star recruit: 5-10, 161 lbs, 4.4 40; offers - Hofstra, Maine, Wagner, Akron, Buffalo
Originally talking to Syracuse, but didn't want to gray shirt
Jones is an all-purpose wide receiver, running back and kick returner who scored six touchdowns his junior year for the Vikings. This season, he caught 33 passes for 547 yards and five touchdowns.

4) Renard Robinson - ATH - Baltimore (MD) Mount St. Joseph
2 star recruit: 5-11, 171 lbs, 4.6 40; offers - Villanova, Richmond, Towson, and Rhode Island
Over 1,500 all-purpose yards as a senior.

5) Jordan Stanton - DE - Fairfax (VA) Robinson
2 star recruit: 6-4, 236 lbs, 4.7 40; offers - ODU, BC, Maryland
Senior year had 83 tackles, four sacks, two forced fumbles and one blocked punt for Robinson, which went 5-5. He was named second-team All-Group AAA by the Associated Press.
Notes: Late recruit that will be outstanding for us. At the press conference, Mickey said that when he plays, he is "a guy that looks pretty...and he's pretty."

6) Richard Wilson - CB - (CA) San Mateo Junior College
2 star recruit: 6-3, 190 lbs
Notes: Has 2 years remaining. Originally from Baltimore and led the city of Baltimore in INT's his senior year. Also had trips to Kansas State and other I-As.

7) Daniel Allen - DB (RB) - Ashburn (VA) Stone Bridge
5-11, 173 lbs, 4.56 40; looked at by - VT, UVA, Syracuse, Duke and Stanford
Notes: Ran for 1,349 yards his senior year. One of our first commits. Outstanding player on both sides of the ball.

8) Matt Krout - TE - Fredericksburg (VA) Riverbend
6-5, 252 lbs, 4.9 40; looked at - UVA, Duke, ODU, and UR
Played TE and DE in HS
Notes: Will need to get in the weight room and get bigger before playing on the offensive line.

9) Sean O'Neill - TE - Oradell (NJ) River Dell Reg
6-4, 225 lbs; offers - Hofstra, Maine, UMass, Akron
37 catches for 678 yards and nine touchdowns - 82 tackles and 13 sacks this season.
Notes: Big guy that can run. Played basketball also in high school and is very athletic. Was the shotput champion in his district and also ran the 100m. Mickey was very impressed with Sean. Mickey thought expanding our range to NJ would be good because JMU has a large contingent of students from there. Mickey also said Mark Hendricks did a great job recruiting there.

10) Stephon Robertson - LB - Alexandria (VA) Thomas A Edison
5-10, 195 lbs, 4.53 40; offer - Delaware; looked at - Ohio, Maryland, VT, ECU, WVU
Scout.com says: "With Robertson's commitment, the Dukes pick up a prospect that rushed for 1,288 yards and 24 touchdowns on offense while netting 136 tackles, 1 sack, and three interceptions on defense" and "Hard nose player who explodes from his linebacker position with both speed and strength. Height may work a bit against him, but pursues well and creates big hits at the point of contact. Had 149 tackles, three interceptions and two fumble recoveries as a junior. Speed could also make him a safety prospect."

11) Dae'quan Scott - ATH - Staunton (VA) Robert E. Lee
5-9, 185 lbs; offers - Richmond, Delaware, and Appalachian State
Projects as a WR in our scheme. Elusive athlete, in 2008 he rushed for 2,241 yards on 176 carries for 35 touchdowns. He also threw for 703 yards and eight scores, and returned three kickoffs and one punt for touchdowns.
Notes: Could possibly be a QB at JMU. Was the DNR Player of the Year. At this point Mickey also said that he "will sign the best college prospect in the Valley every year," making sure to point out 'college prospect', instead of 'football player'.

12) Tyler Snow - OLB/DE/H-back - Roanoke (VA) William Byrd
6-3, 220 lbs
Notes: Very good recruit. Wanted to go to either JMU, VT, or UVA and Mickey said he could have gone to any of them, but his sister goes to JMU, so he chose here and was an early committal. VT, according to Mickey, loved the guy.

13) Jakarie Jackson - ATH - Frederick (MD) Tuskarora
5-11, 170 lbs; offers - Temple, Richmond, and Delaware
Will likely play WR or FS at JMU, though QB and RB are also possibilities. Finished in the top 3 in the Mamma Lucia's Fastest Man Competition, held at the Crab Bowl (MD's state all-star game).
Youtube clip | Article
Notes: Mickey didn't say to much about Jackson except that he was a "big time player" and that he was basically a local guy up in Frederick more than some of the VA players are.

14) Kavon Seaton - QB - Vista Murrieta
5-10, 150 lbs
Notes: A lot like Dae'quan. He's very fast, can throw the ball, and is a good student.

15) Scott Jones - Langley, VA
6-5, 250 lbs
Notes: Mickey said that when he visited with Scott he was 20 lbs under his normal weight because he was also a wrestler. Turns out he is ranked #2 in the state in the heavyweight division.

16) Jordan Anderson - RB - Chantilly, VA - Westfield
6-1, 200 lbs
Notes: A late recruit that rushed for 2,000 yards. He has tremendous talent and also played basketball. His coaches said he had the best vertical on the team and could sky up with the centers.

17) Will Gann - K - Greensboro (NC) Eastern Guilford

18) Arlandis Harvey - WR - Ashburn (VA) Flint Hill
6-0, 180 lbs

New Recruit:
19) Terry Turner - RB/LB - Washington, DC (DC) McKinley Tech
5-11, 188 lbs
Max Preps | Highlight Reel

FBS Transfers:
20) Nick Emmons - DE - Transfer from Army, 1 year of eligibility remaining
6-4, 250 lbs
As a sophomore, posted 21 tackles, 4 TFL, and 1 sack. Saw playing time decrease dramatically as a junior.

21) Ryan Smith - CB/KR/PR - - Transfer from Marshall, 4 years of eligibility remaining
5-9, 180 lbs
Wanted to come to JMU originally but didn't have the grades. Went to Marshall and was not happy there, looking to be closer to home.

Had a total of 18 recruits (plus the 2 transfers), 10 from Virginia, 3 from Maryland, and the rest were spread around. Mickey said he was focusing on DB's, RB's and wanted 1 QB. Said for skill positions he preferred players who played on both sides of the ball in high school. He said this was the best recruiting class he ever had (continuing on to say that he should stop saying that because it's starting to lose its meaning, but that it really was). When asked if there were any players that stood out, he replied, "[When I] look though this list, I love all of 'em." He said he liked the number of great players we have, though he still has 2 available scholarships. He said he is looking for a safety or two and safety (high school senior) visiting next week, but is still looking at possibly another receiver. He feels we're set at LB this year. Our main problem with this past year was that we had 2 of our players coming out of Fork Union out for the season because of shoulder surgery. Coach Matthews highlighted Josh Johnson as playing really well right now and that if he stays healthy will be outstanding for us next year. He also commented that we will have a problem holding spring practice because we moved a lot of our DB's to linebacker this past season because we were short and Pat Williams will miss spring training because of surgery for a sports hernia, leaving us short in that position. We are strong in RB though (7 deep), so we might move a few over for spring practice.

As far as recruiting goes, Mickey said that Curt Newsome was the best 757 recruiter JMU had, but that losing Coach Barlow also made a pretty big impact. In addition, said a reason that we are getting fewer recruits in the 757 is that it is more heavily recruited now because of the success that schools including JMU have had there and that even VT got very recruits from there this year. We were talking to a kid in December that got picked up by Louisville. When asked if we were out-recruited by ODU, Mickey flatout said no. Mickey was literally dumbfounded and tried to recall the names of a couple guys that were apparently offered by JMU, as reported by the DNR, but was completely blanking. Now, we know Mickey sometimes plays dumb with some of this stuff, but he really seemed like he had no idea this was occuring and just laughed at the reporter. Coach Matthews said the top schools we were recruiting against were Marshall, Temple, and ECU, and that we were going head-to-head with MAC schools more than CAA schools. Our facilities and the stadium expansion are great assets in the recruiting process though. JMU is also getting more kids to camp to evaluate them, which also made this the most evaluated recruiting class we've had (2/3's at least visited campus) and our name is getting out there more.

Coach Matthews also commented about having 4 recruits come in for the Montana game and that the morning after, when he "wanted to throw up," he had to meet with the recruits and their families. All they could talk about was the tremendous atmosphere here. Mickey couldn't believe it. Those players: Renard, Sharp, Jackson, and Allen. All four are very solid recruits. So for all those that doubt the power of the "JMU Nation" in recruiting or otherwise (read...Tim Chapman), laugh all you want at the 6k students that showed up in the bitter cold while school wasn't in session (if only you could see me rolling my eyes as I write this), along with the 10k other fans, but the JMU football atmosphere is making huge impressions on people. When asked about recruiting players from the south, he said it is very difficult because they don't like coming north where it's cold. He commented about the make up of the student body and the lack of students from the south and that, "the only thing southern about James Madison is my accent." Looks to be a great recruiting class to add to an already stellar team at JMU.