Former Demopolis High School football player DaMarcus James has been named to the Ohio Valley Conference Pre-Season All-Conference Team.

James, a junior running back at Jacksonville State, ran for 867 yards and six touchdowns in just nine games in his sophomore season for the Gamecocks. He helped lead Demopolis to the 2009 state championship, and he ran for 1,828 yards as a senior in 2010.

In a poll of the league’s head coaches and sports information directors, Jacksonville State was picked to finish fourth out of nine teams in the conference in 2013.

JSU welcomes a new head coach this season in Bill Clark. He was previously the defensive coordinator at the University of South Alabama, helping build the program from scratch.