East Mississippi football alums set for collegiate season debuts at more than 30 universities nationally

SCOOBA – While the 2015 EMCC Lions continue to chase NJCAA history, more than 50 of their East Mississippi Community College predecessors are set to suit up with various teams at the four-year collegiate level beginning this week.  

As many as 54 current gridiron standouts who previously played for EMCC head football coach Buddy Stephens will make their respective season debuts for more than 30 FBS, FCS, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA programs combined throughout the country.  The positional breakdown features 11 offensive linemen, 11 defensive linemen, 10 wide receivers, eight defensive backs, five linebackers, four quarterbacks, three running backs, one kicker and one long snapper.

Highlighted by 10 former Lion players competing at Southeastern Conference institutions, a total of 34 former East Mississippi student-athletes will represent 23 different FBS programs this college football season.  The Ole Miss Rebels, ranked 17^th nationally in the preseason AP Top 25 College Football Poll, feature five former EMCC Lions in quarterback Chad Kelly, linebacker Christian Russell, defensive lineman D.J. Jones, offensive lineman Jacob Feeley and wide receiver Brandon Bell.  Also within the SEC by way of Scooba, defensive linemen Jarran Reed and D.J. Pettway return for their senior seasons for the third-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide.  Fellow SEC members Kentucky (A.J. Stamps), South Carolina (Dante Sawyer) and Texas A&M (Avery Gennesy) will each dress out one former EMCC Lion in 2015.

Along with having nine Sun Belt Conference participants representing five different schools, East Mississippi alums can also be found on the rosters of three Big Ten schools, three Big 12 teams and four Conference USA members.  EMCC's starting linebackers from back-to-back (2013-14) NJCAA Championship teams – Demetrius Cain, William Lloyd and Justin Lucas – have joined former Lion teammate and NJCAA All-America quarterback Dontreal Pruitt at SBC member Troy University.  Fellow two-time national championship ring recipients Allen "Bo" Sentimore and Drew White are now teaming up at Arkansas State, while Jimmie Gipson III (South Alabama), Kam Myers (Georgia State) and Jeryl Brazil (Louisiana-Lafayette) also compete within the Sun Belt.

Senior wide receiver Corey Smith returned to his home state of Ohio after spending the 2012 campaign with EMCC and earned a ring of his own as a member of the reigning NCAA Champion Ohio State Buckeyes.  Defensive back Byerson Cockrell returns for his senior campaign at Big Ten rival Nebraska and incoming wide receiver Camion Patrick is with the Indiana Hoosiers.

All primed for their first taste of Big 12 competition, former EMCC standouts Jamal Danley and Austin Roberts are now teammates with the Oklahoma Sooners, while Brandon Hodges and Todd Mays have joined conference rivals Texas and Oklahoma State, respectively.

East Mississippi's quintet of Conference USA participants this coming season is comprised of Southern Miss teammates Deshadrick Truly and Willie Swift, along with senior quarterback Jaquez Johnson (Florida Atlantic), David Mahaffey (Louisiana Tech) and Maurice Bennett (Western Kentucky).

Additionally, former NJCAA All-American Lorenzo Phillips of 10^th-ranked Florida State is representing the Atlantic Coast Conference for East Mississippi gridiron alums in 2015.

Furthest away from the Magnolia State, senior lineman Martavius Foster of Colorado State and the Mountain West Conference is one of four former EMCC Lions/Starkville Yellowjackets slated to compete at the four-year collegiate level this season.

Much closer to home, University of Memphis signee DeMarco Montgomery looks to showcase his defensive talents in the American Athletic Conference.

At the FCS level, seven former EMCC football standouts will represent five different universities in three conferences.  Antonio Wells and Evan Grimes are teammates at Alcorn State, while Jamison Goins is now a senior at Grambling State of the Southwestern Athletic Conference.  Former EMCC/Starkville running back Preston Baker and wide receiver/quarterback Brett Thompson, who played last season at Northeast Mississippi, are continuing their collegiate careers at Tennessee-Martin of the Ohio Valley Conference.  From the Southland Conference, Brandon Acker is now a Southeastern Louisiana Lion, while fellow wide receiver C.J. Bates has transferred to Nicholls State from Louisiana-Lafayette.

Affiliated with NCAA Division II football, three schools from the Gulf South Conference currently feature a total of 10 former East Mississippi Community College football lettermen.  Along with Mississippi College's quartet of Scooba products (Michael Hodges Jr., Nate Hutson, JaQarius Scott & Jamaal White), fellow GSC members Delta State (Logan Bell, TJ Martindale & Benny McCall) and West Alabama (Izauea Lanier, Justin Mack & Robert Sillimon) both presently tout a trio of ex-EMCC Lions.  Also at the NCAA DII level, Kenneth Averhart is a senior offensive lineman at Albany State in Georgia.

A pair of local prep products round out EMCC's extensive list of former football players presently continuing their careers at the senior college level.  Starkville's Jarrod Atterberry is a senior offensive lineman at NCAA Division III newcomer Belhaven University in Jackson, while defensive back Quan Latham, now at NAIA member Faulkner University in Montgomery, Ala., is one of three former EMCC Lions/Columbus Falcons currently competing on the gridiron at the next level.