Butler Community College (Kan.) wide receiver Semaj James, a transfer out of El Dorado picked up an offer from Western Kentucky on Friday, June 3.
The JUCO transfer announced the offer from the Hilltoppers over social media on Friday afternoon.
The 6-foot-2, 190-pound wide receiver is a former two-star recruit on Rivals.com and received a 5.4 rating.
While James did take the JUCO route, he was a highly sought after player in the recruiting class of 2022 as he garnered the interest of 22 programs. In addition to the offer from Western Kentucky, James has collected offers from Auburn, Baylor, Cincinnati, Florida, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Georgia Tech, LSU, Miami (FL), Missouri, Northern Illinois, South Carolina, Southern Miss, Syracuse, Toledo, UAB, UCF, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and Washington State. He also garnered interest from Marshall and Ole Miss.
James spoke with InsideHilltopperSports.com about the offer from Western Kentucky and talked about how important this offer is to him.
"I'm very excited to get the opportunity to play for a D1 program like this," James said. "I'm ready to create relationships with the coaching staff and go from there."
James said he knows WKU assistant coach and cornerbacks coach Keynodo Hudson well because Hudson was recruiting him for Illinois early on in his football career.
"They've been on my radar since January of this year," James said. "I've had a good relationship with Coach Keynodo Hudson when he was at Illinois and was recruiting me."
James said he is excited to make a trip to Western Kentucky to see the campus and connect with more of the coaching staff.
"I plan on coming up there and visiting soon and I'm sure it'll be a great experience," James said.
James also talked about how significant this offer from the Hilltoppers is to him as a JUCO talent looking to enter the D1 football stage.
"It's just icing on the cake to make me continue to just work hard, never settle and continue to just put my head down and work," James said. "This is just the beginning of something special."
The JUCO transfer announced the offer from the Hilltoppers over social media on Friday afternoon.
The 6-foot-2, 190-pound wide receiver is a former two-star recruit on Rivals.com and received a 5.4 rating.
While James did take the JUCO route, he was a highly sought after player in the recruiting class of 2022 as he garnered the interest of 22 programs. In addition to the offer from Western Kentucky, James has collected offers from Auburn, Baylor, Cincinnati, Florida, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Georgia Tech, LSU, Miami (FL), Missouri, Northern Illinois, South Carolina, Southern Miss, Syracuse, Toledo, UAB, UCF, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and Washington State. He also garnered interest from Marshall and Ole Miss.
James spoke with InsideHilltopperSports.com about the offer from Western Kentucky and talked about how important this offer is to him.
"I'm very excited to get the opportunity to play for a D1 program like this," James said. "I'm ready to create relationships with the coaching staff and go from there."
James said he knows WKU assistant coach and cornerbacks coach Keynodo Hudson well because Hudson was recruiting him for Illinois early on in his football career.
"They've been on my radar since January of this year," James said. "I've had a good relationship with Coach Keynodo Hudson when he was at Illinois and was recruiting me."
James said he is excited to make a trip to Western Kentucky to see the campus and connect with more of the coaching staff.
"I plan on coming up there and visiting soon and I'm sure it'll be a great experience," James said.
James also talked about how significant this offer from the Hilltoppers is to him as a JUCO talent looking to enter the D1 football stage.
"It's just icing on the cake to make me continue to just work hard, never settle and continue to just put my head down and work," James said. "This is just the beginning of something special."
