By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Nobody has to tell Washburn University star receiver/returner James Letcher Jr. how big he is -- the 5-foot-8, 175-pounder has been reminded of that his whole career.
But sometime Satuday afternoon in Maryville, Mo., the little guy that very few colleges gave a second look to is likely to stride proudly into Washburn's record book as the leading receiver in school history.
Senior star James Letcher Jr. is two catches away from being the leading receiver in Washburn school history. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
The Ichabod All-American will enter Saturday's 1:30 p.m. game at Northwest Missouri with 189 career receptions, just two catches behind Sam Sisson, who played at WU from 2002-2006.
"I just wanted to get on the field and play,'' Letcher said. "Coming out of high school I wasn't recruited that much, so I wasn't too sure if I was actually going to be able to play college football.
"Believe it or not, I was actually going to go to Fort Hays at first. I liked the coach they had and the way they were talking to me about how much they wanted me. I was like, 'OK, I think this is where I want to go,' but they didn't get to offer me and then Washburn came in and offered me. That was the only reason I ended up coming here because they offered me. If nobody would have offered me I don't think I would have been playing, but I think everything worked out great.''
Fast forward to the 2022 season and Letcher is in line to finish among the top five in WU history in virtually every receiving/return category.
Letcher's 24.9 yards per kickoff return is second all-time at Washburn, his 2,482 receiving yards rank fifth and his 25 TD receptions also rank No. 5.
His 4,840 career all-purpose yards rank second all-time at Washburn and Letcher ranks third among active NCAA Division II players with 4,903 all-purpose yards, fourth with 2,521 receiving yards and third with his 189 receptions.
"I didn't even know if I was going to play on a team, so being able to work this hard and have unrealistic dreams come true is just crazy,'' Letcher said. "I never would have thought I would be at the top of the list for receptions or top five or top 10 in any of these things, but it's really a blessing and I can't do nothing but thank God and thank my parents for making me this monster on the field.''
And with every catch he makes and evevy TD he scores, Letcher can't help but remember all the schools that weren't willing to give him a chance.
"That gives me that chip on my shoulder to beat up on the teams that didn't offer me or even consider looking at me coming out of high school,'' he said. "I understand I played running back but just looking at my films you should have known I was a ballplayer.''
Washburn coach Craig Schurig gives Ichabod assistant Jeff Schwinn the credit for making one of the top recruiting grabs in program history.
"Jeff Schwinn's the one that recruited him from Piper and Jeff was real adamant, 'This kid can play,' '' Schurig said. "Obviously, with his size you're like, 'Well, he's going to be limited,' but then he and his dad came on a visit and we loved him on the visit and his competitiveness so we were able to get him and sign him and freshman year he surprised us. In practice it was like, 'Oh shoot, he's just not going to be a returner, he's going to play and not just play, we're going to try to get him the ball.' He was a legit starter as a freshman.''
Schurig recalls one play in particular when he and the Washburrn coaching staff realized they had something special.
"What I remember is we played Lindenwood early and it was like, 'Let's get him in and get him the ball,' '' Schurig said. "I think we gave him like a jet sweep and it wasn't blocked up well and he made like four or five guys miss and right then we knew he was going to be really good. He just made moves that you don't normally see.''
After realizing his dream to play college football, the six-time career All-American now has another goal in mind, to play professionally.
."I'm always going to be the underdog, just based on my size, but I just want to get a chance and if I get that chance I'll take care of everything else,'' Letcher said. "I'm looking forward to it and if they look at the stats and they understand that I'm a ballplayer, I can make plays, I'm explosive and if they do their research they'll find me.''
