CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Dressed smartly in his Old Dominion University cap and gown, and holding a diploma handed to him only minutes earlier, LaMareon James choked back tears for a few brief moments when it was his turn to speak.
He began by recalling a conversation he had with a coach nearly a decade ago. James was already a gifted athlete who excelled in football and basketball. But at the time, he was struggling in the classroom.
"He told me that I was never going to make it," James said. "He told me I'd never graduate from college.
"There were a lot of people who told me I would never make it."
That's something a coach should never tell an impressionable young man. It's the kind of statement that could shatter a young person's self confidence.
But truth be told, the odds were against James. He was raised mostly in a Norfolk public housing project, which he said "is not the place you want to be, it's the kind of place you want to leave." He did not acquire a good academic background in grade school and all through middle and high school, he was playing catch-up.
By the time he was 16, many of his friends were dead, in jail or headed for trouble. He'd already seen half a dozen friends or family members who died, many of them in drive-by shootings. That number has more than doubled to about 14, including a step brother, who died several years ago.
"I think it's 14, but I've lost so many people that I've lost count," James said. "After a while, you just get numb to it."
He wears the No. 2 jersey at ODU in honor of Jaquan Yulee, his former Indian River High School teammate who died in a car accident two years ago. A year earlier, former AAU teammate Ashley James died in an accidental shooting incident and James' cousin, Keyon Raheem Johnson, was shot during an altercation at a Norfolk 7/11 store.
A Lake Taylor High School faculty member, while mourning another shooting victim, wrote that LaMareon James was "The Chosen One." By that, he meant the guy who was going to beat the odds and make it out of the inner city.
"When I read that, it fit," James said. "I feel like maybe I should be in jail or dead. It happened to so many of my friends.
"But out of all of them, I'm the one who made it out. In some ways, I feel like the chosen one."
James has indeed so far fulfilled that prophecy.
On Sunday afternoon, just 3 ½ years after he enrolled at Old Dominion, he was handed his degree by Sarah Walker, the director of ODU's athletics academic advising group, which provides academic support to Monarch athletes.
The ceremony took place in a meeting room at the Charlotte Hilton University Place Hotel, where the Monarchs have been staying as they prepared for Monday's Famous Toastery football bowl game against Western Kentucky at 2:30 p.m.
James and walk-on linebacker John Cook both missed ODU's graduation ceremony Saturday at Chartway Arena. Not to worry. Head football coach Ricky Rahne and his staff arranged an informal graduation ceremony 300 miles from ODU.
And as awesome as it is to walk across the stage at Chartway Arena, this ceremony was much cooler.
The meeting room was filled with more than 100 teammates, family members, staff and coaches, who cheered and clapped throughout much of the ceremony. It was, for all those there, a bit of a pep rally.
It is a credit to ODU's academic staff, and Rahne's insistence on rigorous academics, that both players graduated early – Cook with a degree in business management from the Strome College of Business; James with a degree in leadership from the college or Arts and Letters.
It's also a credit to Cook and James for their hard work.
James is in many ways perhaps ODU's most popular football player. Linebacker Jason Henderson is an All-American, but James is a local kid who's done well, and whose charisma, good looks and commanding presence on social media demand attention.
He has nearly 40,000 followers on Instagram, and that number climbs to 60,000 if you add Facebook and X, formerly known as Twitter.
"We call him the mayor of Norfolk," said Tony Lucas, ODU's running backs coach and offensive recruiting coordinator.
"When we begin talking to recruits, all of them seem to know LaMareon. And when kids get on campus, he's our best recruiter.
"He is something of a force of nature."
James acknowledges that he was rebellious and headed in the wrong direction in middle school.
"I was going down the wrong road," he said. "I had people tell me that I was a bad kid. I wasn't a bad kid, but I was getting in trouble. Nothing serious, but I was definitely headed in the wrong direction.
"But I turned that around. I calmed down and matured."
His family got him enrolled in the ninth grade at Norfolk Christian High School and his two years there helped James find his way.
"The academics there were much tougher than anything I experienced in public school," he said. "That made me realize there's much more than just football and basketball. You've got to do your school work, too."
Lucas introduced himself to James at Norfolk Christian, but told him his grades had to improve for ODU to recruit him.
"I loved his talent," Lucas said. "And I loved his character, who he was.
"But we told him he's got to get serious in the classroom before we can recruit him. Everyone in the 757 loves LaMareon. He has enough cheerleaders. I was the guy who reminded him everything he had to do to get into school."
Poncho McGee, who has been a mentor for James since he was in grade school, said enrolling at Norfolk Christian was just what James needed.
"He didn't have the confidence in his academic ability that he needed at that time," McGee said. "He was told that you're not going to play until you get your grades up.
"There were so many days when LaMareon would be with the assistant principal at lunchtime trying to get caught up. He worked so hard."
He starred for Christian's football and basketball teams and transferred to Chesapeake's Indian River High School as a junior, where he became an instant star. By then, his grades had improved, and he had offers from Auburn, Florida, Nebraska and most ACC schools, in addition to ODU.
He originally committed to North Carolina before reopening his recruiting and committing to ODU.
When he de-committed from UNC, a number of fans ridiculed him on social media. "People wrote that I would have to go to junior college and that I would never play at a four-year school," James said.
"People said some awful things about me."
It would take time for him to prove everyone wrong.
James said he turned down Power 5 schools and enrolled at ODU because he loves his hometown.
"He is the most loyal kid in the world," McGee said. "So many people who knew him wanted him to go to a bigger school.
"But he kept telling them, 'I want to go to ODU. I want to go to our local school.'"
His first season at ODU, in 2021, was a disappointment for all involved. The pandemic shut down much of the country and ODU was among a handful of FBS schools that did not play football.
Although he was one of the highest-rated recruits in ODU history, James did not play a lot as a freshman in 2021.
He was a defensive back and wide receiver at Indian River. ODU moved him solely to defense and he became the team's primary kick returner.
He averaged 29.4 yards per kickoff return as a freshman and returned kickoffs for touchdowns against Louisiana Tech and Tulsa in the Myrtle Beach Bowl, but didn't see a lot of playing time on defense.
He played more as a sophomore at cornerback but did not break into the starting lineup until this season.
"You always want to play early," he said. "I was depressed as a freshman because I was mostly playing special teams.
"I was young and did not know how things work in college. Coach Rahne and coach Lucas, they told me to be patient and just trust the process and that I would be fine.
"I've got to admit, I didn't feel fine because I wasn't playing."
As he began to get more playing time as a sophomore, he realized that he had things to learn before he was ready to start.
"They were right," he said. "I needed to trust the process."
Things came together for James, and for the team, this season.
His enormous talent and ability to change a game with one play began to emerge. He starts at cornerback and returned an interception for a touchdown and recovered three fumbles, including an 80-yard fumble return for a touchdown.
He also had a game-clinching interception on a Texas A&M-Commerce two-point conversion. And his coverage at cornerback improved immensely – he has 47 tackles and eight passes defended.
He already had two tackles in ODU's final regular-season game, a 25-24 victory over Georgia State, when he suffered the most serious injury of his career after one of the most brutal helmet-to-helmet hits the Monarchs had seen all season.
LaMareon James' mother, Devon James, saw the play once, on replay, and said she never wants to see it again.
Her son was returning a kickoff when Georgia State's Rykem Laney knocked James to the turf from the side with a helmet-to-helmet hit. It was immediately apparent he could have been seriously injuryed.
LaMareon's mother was just walking into S.B. Ballard Stadium when she got the call to come down to the field. "I saw the replay once and I'll never look at it again," she said. "It's so hard to see your son get hit like that."
Head Athletic Trainer Justin Walker and assistant athletic trainers Angela Moening and Alexis Porterfield quickly got James immobilized and on a cart and from there into an ambulance.
"LaMareon was not responsive at all," said Dr. Bradley Butkovich, one of ODU's team doctors. "We were all really worried."
LaMareon's mother said "I prayed for my son from the stadium until we got to the hospital and then I prayed some more."
James did not regain consciousness until an hour later at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. When he first awoke, he said he could not feel his legs or arms.
"I remember the score was 21-0," he said of the early Georgia State lead. James seemed more concerned with the game than with himself, Butkovich said.
Eventually, doctors were able to confirm he had no nerve damage. He was diagnosed with a severe concussion. It was so severe that James was not cleared to play against Western Kentucky until after the team arrived in Charlotte.
"The ODU training staff was so good," Devon James said. "They were so respectful. They updated us every five minutes."
Hospital administrators offered to take James home when he was released from the hospital. "But I wanted to go see my teammates," James said. "I wanted to celebrate with them."
He entered the locker room with his arm around Justin Walker, who was there to make sure LaMareon did not fall and reinjure himself.
How fitting. Walker and James have become close over the seasons. James often stops by the training room just to chat with Walker.
"The thing I love about LaMareon is that no matter what happens, he always has a positive attitude," Walker said. "He's had so much go wrong in his life that he doesn't dwell on it when something does go wrong.
"It's amazing. At one time, there was a question about whether LaMareon would get into college and now he's excelling in the classroom."
He's actually doing more than that. James spends a good deal of time doing community service projects with other ODU student-athletes, and he hasn't forgotten his friends in jail or in prison.
"I get calls from people in jail once in a while," he said. "If they need help, I do what I can to help them."
McGee said "what he's done at ODU is amazing. His grandfather has cancer and his father has been sick and his mother has had her ups and downs.
"Yet he's remained focus. He loves Old Dominion. He loves the city. Anyone he can help, he does what he can."
In spite of his at times outgoing personality, James can also be shy. When he extended his hand to Rahne after being called up to receive his degree, the ODU coach grabbed him and gave him a bear hug. James smiled broadly.
James said he will remain at ODU and hasn't given the transfer portal a thought.
"I love it here. I love my teammates, my coaches. Norfolk is my home.
"Why would I want to leave?" he said.
"We're going to be better next season. And the schedule, with Virginia Tech, East Carolina and South Carolina, I'll get a lot of exposure with NFL scouts."
Rahne said he if continues to develop, he has NFL potential.
"He can run," Rahne said. "He has good hips and tremendous ball skills. And he obviously brings some value in the return game.
"The NFL values character and LaMareon is such a good young guy.
"If he makes the same type of leap he made this year, then he'll have that opportunity, which will be exciting."
Shortly after Sunday's ceremony ended, LaMareon threw his cap to his mother. She caught it and smiled at her son and her gaze oozed with pride.
"I'm overwhelmed, but I'm overwhelmed in a good way," she said of the graduation ceremony.
"There were a lot of people who told him he wasn't going to make it this far. To see him make it this far was the biggest blessing that has come my way.
"As his mother, I always believed in him. But for him to prove all those people who said he wouldn't make it wrong, it's just a blessing, a huge blessing.
"I'm so proud of my son."
Cornerbacks coach Tarron Williams spoke emotionally about James, with whom he has become close with in spite of coaching him just one season. And what he said had nothing to do with football.
"When I think of LaMareon, I think about community," he said. "I look around this room and see all of this love for LaMareon.
"I want to give a shout out to his family. You've done a phenomenal job raising LaMareon. He's a guy who serves. Nothing's too big or small for him. He's always willing to serve."
In spite of all of the loss and grief he's endured, James remains upbeat and thankful.
"This is one of the best days of my life," he said. "The people at Old Dominion, they've taken such good care of me. My family, everyone in my life, they've all taken care of me.
"I've lost so many friends and I think about them often. I play for them. I want to do well in life because of them. I want to make them proud."
And surely they are.
Minium is ODU's senior executive writer for athletics. Contact him at hminium@odu.edu or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram
Minium: LaMareon James Has Proven Everyone Wrong Whoever Doubted He Would Graduate From College
