Dec. 1, 2003

Columbia, Mo. - University of Missouri senior kick returner/wide receiver Marcus James has been named the Big 12 Conference Special Teams Player of the Week, as announced today by the league office.

James earned the award for his performance in Saturday's 45-7 Missouri win over Iowa State, in which he returned four punts for 94 yards - an average of 23.5 yards per attempt. He had returns of 36, 26, 19 and 13 yards on the day, and his second return of the day (13 yards) made him Mizzou's career leader in combined kick return yardage. He now stands atop the school career chart with 1,765 career return yards, passing the former record of 1,692 held by Mike Fink (1970-72).

James ends the 2003 regular season ranked 1st in the Big 12 Conference, and 4th in the NCAA in punt returns, with his season average of 15.16 yards per return. He has a career punt return average of 12.3 currently, which would give him the alltime MU career record for punt return average, over the current record holder, Roger Wehrli, who averaged 11.5 in his career from 1966-68.

James and his Tiger teammates are off from practice this week as they wait to learn their post-season bowl destination. Mizzou stands 8-4 on the season, marking the first time since 1980 - and only the 9th time in MU history - that a Tiger team has collected eight wins in the regular season.