BATON ROUGE — LSU linebacker Bradie James has been named First Team All-America by the American Football Coaches Association, the organization announced on Thursday.
James, a senior from West Monroe, La., led the Tigers with 147 tackles, including 8.5 tackles for losses and three sacks. This year’s LSU defense ranks second in the nation in pass defense allowing just 143.0 yards per game and the Tigers are fifth in the nation in total defense at only 278.8 yards a contest.
“This is a tremendous honor for Bradie,” LSU coach Nick Saban said. “Bradie has combined excellence both on the football field and in the classroom and he’s been an outstanding representative not only of our team but also of this university. He’s very deserving of this recognition.”
The First Team All-America honor is the first of James’ career. He’s also been a First Team All-Southeastern Conference pick as well as a member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll. James also becomes the 50th First Team All-America selection in LSU football history.
Next week James will be recognized in New York City as one of only 14 players in all NCAA divisions to be awarded as a scholar-athlete by the National Football Foundation. The scholar-athlete award comes with an $18,000 post-graduate scholarship to the school of James’ choice.
In 2002, James recorded double-figure tackles in eight of LSU’s 12 games, including a career-best of 19 against Virginia Tech. James also had 18 tackles against Arkansas and The Citadel. James also had double-figure tackles in six of the Tigers’ eight conference games this season.
For his career, James has posted 411 tackles, the second-highest total in school history, to go along with 14 sacks and 31.5 tackles for losses.
James is one of three players from the SEC named to the squad. Others include Arkansas offensive lineman Shane Andrews and Georgia linebacker Boss Bailey.
2002 AFCA All-America Team
Offense
WR Charlie Rogers Jr. Michigan State
WR Nate Burleson Sr. Nevada
TE Dallas Clark Jr. Iowa
OL Eric Steinbach Sr. Iowa
OL Brett Williams Sr. Florida State
C Brett Romberg Sr. Miami (Fla.)
OL Shawn Andrews So. Arkansas
OL Derrick Roche Sr. Washington State
QB Ken Dorsey Sr. Miami (Fla.)
RB Chris Brown Jr. Colorado
RB Larry Johnson Sr. Penn State
Defense
DL Tommie Harris So. Oklahoma
DL Terrell Suggs Jr. Arizona State
DL Jerome McDougle Sr. Miami (Fla.)
DL Calvin Pace Sr. Wake Forest
LB E.J. Henderson Sr. Maryland
LB Bradie James Sr. LSU
LB Boss Bailey Sr. Georgia
DB Mike Doss Sr. Ohio State
DB Shane Walton Sr. Notre Dame
DB Terence Newman Sr. Kansas State
DB Brandon Everage Jr. Oklahoma
Special Teams
P Mark Mariscal Sr. Colorado
PK Mike Nugent So. Ohio State
RS DeJuan Groce Sr. Nebraska