Saltillo’s Jamarcus Smith makes history in NEMCC football program

Smith Earns Academic All-America® Honors for Second Straight Year

By: Blake Long

August 5, 2022  AUSTIN, Texas – Jamarcus Smith had one more historic accomplishment to make before officially ending his tenure with the Northeast Mississippi Community College football program. Smith has repeated as a College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America® selection as part of the College Division men’s at-large team.

The Saltillo native became Northeast’s inaugural CoSIDA Academic All-America® recipient in 2021. Smith is consequently the first student-athlete in school history to capture this award in consecutive years.

Smith was an arts and humanities major at Northeast with a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.66 on a 4.0 scale. He transferred to the University of West Alabama to continue his career on the gridiron following the fall 2021 semester. He was one of just 16 CoSIDA Academic All-America® winners from the College Division, which includes all two-year institutions, Canadian universities and any four-year school in the United States that is not a member of the NCAA or the NAIA.

“I’m very glad that I could contribute to this great school,” said Smith. “I appreciate every one that’s helped me on my journey. I really enjoyed everything here. Working hard is what we were taught, so I stayed on top of my work.”

Smith is the only player ever to lead the Tigers in tackling for three straight seasons. It is a feat that will likely never happen again as Smith took advantage of an additional year of eligibility, due to the worldwide coronavirus pandemic. Smith concluded his final campaign at Northeast with 74 tackles. He had six games with eight or more stops, including a season-best 14 takedowns during a victory by the Tigers at Coahoma Community College.

He received Fall All-America distinction from the Rivals recruiting network publication JCGridiron as well as all-conference honors for helping Northeast finish as the division runner-up during the abbreviated 2020 campaign. The 6-1, 205-pound linebacker racked up 58 stops along with a team-high eight tackles for loss that year. Smith also accounted for two forced fumbles, two sacks and an interception.

“Jamarcus is a very intelligent football player, but even a better person overall,” Tigers head coach Greg Davis said. “He’s got a very, very bright future ahead of him. He put a lot of time and effort into his class work. This is very well deserved.”

Smith’s cumulative stats at Northeast include 221 takedowns, 20.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, four forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries, three blocked kicks and two interceptions over the course of 24 total contests. Smith averaged 9.2 stops per outing with nine double-digit tackling performances. He posted a career-high 18 tackles during a matchup at East Mississippi Community College as a freshman.

He was twice decorated with scholastic accolades from both the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference (MACCC) and the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) as well.

Blake Long Sports Information Director Northeast Mississippi Community College

Haney Union Room 215 101 Cunningham Boulevard Booneville, MS 38829

www.nemccathletics.com