Lake Braddock WR James Pledges To JMU
He didn’t know if the scholarship offer he wanted would ever come.
It had been more than a year since coaches from James Madison saw Maxwell James run routes and catch passes in person for the first time.
“It’s been off and on flirting with them,” James, a 6-foot-3 wide receiver from Lake Braddock (Burke) High School, told the Daily News-Record on Monday. “But I’ve really been working hard and doing what I’ve had to do to get that offer this whole offseason.”
Momentum started to build in his direction earlier this month, according to James, when Dukes wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator Mike Shanahan reached out with an important update.
“Coach Shanahan texted me and was like, ‘You’re at the top of our board now,’” James said. “I had been waiting for years it seemed like for that call or that text.”
And this past Friday the coveted offer was extended from Shanahan and JMU head man Curt Cignetti over the phone to James, who needed only the weekend to do a little more research on the school. On Monday, he announced his decision to commit to the Dukes and join their 2021 recruiting class.
James is the seventh pledge from Virginia in the 12-man group, and the lone receiver in the class at this point.
He said he chose the scholarship offer from JMU over 18 others, including ones from Chattanooga, Elon, Holy Cross, Monmouth, Rhode Island and William & Mary, which he considered to be his top group prior to gaining the Dukes’ offer.
“I asked my mom that night I got the [JMU] offer if we could drive up and visit campus the next day,” James said. “I was stressed on that car ride. It was a lot to take in and think about. As soon as I got to campus, I drove around and got to see some of the facilities, the campus dorms and the area around it. Then, we drove and stood next to stadium and that’s when it hit me that this is home.”
He said he grew up going to games at JMU, so he was more than familiar with Bridgeforth Stadium and the game day atmosphere in Harrisonburg.
“I really wanted to be at a great football environment and football is really important at the school,” James said. “That was a very important thing to me in the recruiting, especially since I didn’t have to wait to go see a game there. I had a real feel for the environment.”
As junior for Lake Braddock last year, James was an All-Patriot District first-team selection. He hauled in 31 catches for 694 yards and 10 touchdowns while catching passes from quarterback Billy Edwards, an Old Dominion commit, and playing alongside tight end Matthew Hibner, who is now a freshman at Michigan.
“The spring after my sophomore year when coaches were in the green period, [JMU coaches] were able to come to the school,” James said. “That’s when I first met them and they came to watch Matthew Hibner, our old tight end, I think. They watched him and Billy [Edwards] work out, but I was on the field running routes, too, and that’s when they first noticed me.”
James said JMU’s plan is to play him as an outside receiver once he arrives on campus ahead of the 2021 fall season.
Though there’s no high school football this fall in the Commonwealth, he’ll play for the Virginia Spartans, a travel team. They will compete up and down the east coast in games. The Spartans’ opener is set for Sept. 19, the wide receiver said.