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Mississippi State

100 Day Bulldog Countdown: 31 Days - No. 31 LB LaKendrick James

3rupauk8_400x400by: Robbie Faulk07/30/25RobbieFaulkOn3
lakendrick james2
Mississippi State commitment LaKendrick James

Year two of the Jeff Lebby era has arrived and the Mississippi State coach is back to work.

After a disappointing first season, the coach and his staff are doing what they can to get things back on track in Starkville. The players on the field will be the difference for State this season if they are to make a return and we’re going to discuss every single one of them over the course of the next few months.

As we do every year, we’re counting down 100 days until State’s first game at Southern Miss in Hattiesburg on August 30. Over this period of time, we’ll breakdown every scholarship player on the roster, look back at great moments in MSU history and even talk about legends that have come before the current Bulldogs.

Today, we look at a newcomer at linebacker.  

31 Days: No. 31, Jr. Linebacker LaKendrick James   

Many players have come through Starkville from the junior college system that were overlooked or underdeveloped in high school and produced some great results. James will have his opportunity to join that list.

James comes from an MSU-friendly program at Copiah-Lincoln and that program has given State players like Montez Sweat, Donald Gray, Johnnie Daniels and many others. James spent his last two years in Wesson producing 45 tackles with 18.5 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks, four fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles over 21 games, but the bulk of that work came last season.

As a high schooler, James played ball for Northside in Class 2A and piled up 125 tackles, 7.0 TFL, 5.0 sacks, an interception and forced fumble. Like most of the football players at Northside, James was a star on the track and also played basketball and baseball. Despite his standout career with Northside, James wasn’t ready for a four-year, FBS squad and would land at Co-Lin.

After minimal work as a freshman in 2023 and finishing with just four tackles, James would make a major impact last year as he rolled out 41 of his 45 career tackles. James would come in as the No. 1 linebacker in JUCO while being ranked No. 20 nationally by the On3 Industry Ranking and State and Ole Miss would battle it out for him.

State landed a commitment from James back during last summer and got him to campus for the spring semester in January. Heading into training camp this week, James is set to compete for reps at the Jack linebacker position. A year after the Bulldogs struggled to get a pass rush, James will have a chance to make his mark and get after the quarterback. He’ll be contending with other upperclassmen like Branden Jennings and Malick Sylla.

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