BATON ROUGE — A day after earning a spot on The Sporting News’ Preseason Second Team All-America list, LSU linebacker Bradie James has been tabbed as the publication’s Preseason Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Year.
The 2002 Sporting News College Football Yearbook hits the newsstands later this month and it will feature an in-depth look at each conference as well as TSN’s All-American rankings.
Last year as a junior, James earned First Team All-SEC honors after recording 113 tackles in LSU’s championship season. James, also a member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll in 2001, enters his senior season with 264 career tackles and 11 career sacks.
James, a linebacker from Monroe, has been rated by the magazine as the nation’s No. 2 middle linebacker. Other rankings for the Tigers include junior LaBrandon Toefield as the nation’s sixth-best running back, sophomore Michael Clayton as the No. 23 wide receiver, sophomore Ben Wilkerson as the No. 23 center, junior Donnie Jones as the No. 24 punter and senior Domanick Davis as the No. 24 kick returner.
James and Toefield have both been named to The Sporting News Preseason First Team All-SEC squad, while Clayton and senior free safety Damien James were second team selections.