Sherman set for homecoming against Jaguars

James Sherman will be making a homecoming of sorts when the Bobcats hit the field against South Alabama on Saturday.

The senior kicker, who’s originally from Montgomery, Ala., is looking forward to returning to his home state, even if his parents no longer live there. 

“Well, I mean, (San Marcos) is home now,” Sherman said at Monday’s weekly press conference. “I’ve been here for so long. I feel like I’ve been here for about 30 years … But really going back to Mobile will be fine. I have some buddies that play down there and it’ll be fun to see them. Family will definitely be back down there. So, I’m excited to go down there and just get out there and compete and have a good time with it.”

Sherman is coming off a career performance against Texas Southern. He went 5-6 on field goals, which set a program record for field goals made and attempts in a single game. He converted two 41-yard attempts, which were career highs for him. Sherman’s 15-point effort against the Tigers earned him the Sun Belt Special Teams Player of the Week award. 

Although his name was on the weekly accolade, Sherman was quick to say his teammates played an important role in his performance. 

“I think the best thing about that was when we went out there all 11 guys on the field had the same mindset when we were going out there,” Sherman said. “All the guys that came out whether it was Justin Warner snapping, Hutch (White) holding or the guys that are doing their job on the O-line, they were all out there to put points on the board. So, when they do that, they make my job easy. So, it was 11 guys that made that award this week. I wish they’d give all 11 of us, but I guess they’ll put my name on it and I’ll share it with the guys.” 

Head coach Everett Withers joked that the Bobcats would rather score touchdowns, but said it’s important that Sherman was able to help the team get points off of stalled drives. 

“To be able to get five field goals kicked because of drives stalling, and there were a couple of times I thought about letting him kick some long ones,” Withers said. “But I felt like right around 40-45 yards was about where we wanted to kick it Saturday, and he was good. He did a great job of handling those situations, and obviously the points matter to us. He did have a great fall camp.”

Away from the field, Sherman embodies the type of student athlete Texas State wants. Sherman graduated early in December 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in political science. He’s pursuing a second bachelor’s degree in economics. Sherman was named Texas State’s male Scholar-Athlete of the Year after the 2017-18 academic year for earning his first degree. 

Sherman has been on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee for four years and is the current SAAC president and vice-chair of the Sun Belt Conference SAAC. He is a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Sherman is also a member of Athletes in Action. Additionally, he’s serving as a senator for the Texas State Student Government.

Sherman said it means everything to him to have already earned his first bachelor’s degree. He added that it’s been important to take advantage of all the University offers. 

“We’re all well-rounded student athletes,” Sherman said. “We’re not just people that go out and play football games on Saturdays. And if we did that, we would be doing a disservice to the University. So, whether it’s academics, athletics, your social life, people see and you have a great platform.” 

And on the field, Sherman hopes to continue scoring field goals when called upon, and that continues when he returns to Alabama.