James White
Years played: 2010-2013
Career rushing yards: 4,015
Career rushing touchdowns: 45
Honors/Awards: Big Ten freshman of the year (2010), Second team All-Big Ten (2010), Second team All-Big Ten (2013)
Notes: Led Big Ten, fifth in NCAA, in yards per carry (6.7) in 2010. Career yards per carry (6.2) ranks eighth all-time in the Big Ten. Fourth in Big Ten in rushing touchdowns (14 and 12) in 2010 and 2012, respectively. Third in Big Ten in rushing touchdowns (13) in 2013. Career rushing touchdowns (45) ranks ninth all-time in the Big Ten. Fourth in Big Ten in rushing yards (1,444) in 2013.
White’s Game
James White came to Wisconsin from prestigious St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Florida. He was super productive over his four year stay in Madison and is one of the first guys named when Wisconsin’s pipeline to Florida is brought up. He ran for over 1,000 yards as a true freshman in the same backfield as John Clay and Montee Ball, and scored 14 touchdowns that year. He wasn’t the flashiest back on the team, but he produced better than most other backs in the country could. How could you take carries away from John Clay and Montee Ball? Because James White was that good. But people hardly ever realized it.
Related Story: Throwback Thursday - James White
White’s Legacy
The thing about White is he probably wasn’t ever seen as the best running back on the team for any of the four years he was at Wisconsin. He finished with over 4,000 yards in his career and had a spectacular senior season to reach that mark, but he only led the Badgers in rushing one time; his freshman season. White is often overlooked and underappreciated, but not on this list.
It takes a special player to work through running back committees and play alongside some of the names he did. Could you imagine what kind of numbers White would have put up if he wasn’t splitting carries with John Clay, Montee Ball or Melvin Gordon? White could have broken records. Instead, he finished his four-year career at Wisconsin with extremely impressive numbers and is one of the model running backs to ever play for the Badgers.