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University of Illinois Athletics

2025 Football Roster

90 James Thompson Jr.

  • Position DL
  • Class Senior
  • Height 6-6
  • Weight 310
  • Major Recreation, Sport, & Tourism
  • Hometown Cincinnati, Ohio
  • High School Roger Bacon
  • Prev School Wisconsin
  • Instagram jumping_jamez
  • Twitter james_jr56

Biography

Graduation Badge University of Illinois Graduate

2025 Senior

  • Athlon Preseason All-Big Ten Fourth Team
  • Transferred to Illinois with one year of eligibility remaining

2024 Senior (Wisconsin)

  • Played in one game and redshirted the season
  • Missed the first 10 games with an injury

2023 Junior (Wisconsin)

  • Academic All-Big Ten
  • Played in all 13 games with 11 starts on the defensive line
  • 29 tackles, 3.0 sacks, and 5.5 tackles for loss on the season
  • Led all Wisconsin defensive linemen with 29 tackles
  • Career-high 1.5 sacks at Washington State (9/9/23)
  • Career-high six tackles at Purdue (9/22/23)

2022 Sophomore (Wisconsin)

  • Academic All-Big Ten
  • Played in all 13 games with seven starts on the defensive line
  • 22 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks, and one fumble recovery on the season
  • Four tackles and 1.0 tackle for loss against Illinois (10/1/22)
  • Two tackles and recovered a fumble at Northwestern (10/8/22)
  • First career sack vs. Minnesota (11/26/22)
  • 1.0 sack in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl against Oklahoma State (12/27/22)

2021 Redshirt Freshman (Wisconsin)

  • Academic All-Big Ten
  • Played in all 13 games at defensive end
  • Seven tackles on the season
  • First career tackle in win over Eastern Michigan (9/11/21)

2020 Freshman (Wisconsin)

  • Played in one game during the COVID season
  • Made his collegiate debut against Michigan (11/14/20)

High School

  • Three-star recruit by 247 Sports, ESPN and Rivals
  • 2019 All-Ohio Third Team

Personal 

  • Majoring in recreation, sport, & tourism (Master's)
  • Graduated from the University of Wisconsin in December 2024 with a degree in community & organizational development
     

Statistics

Season Statistics

Season Statistics

No statistics available for this season.

Career Statistics

There are no statistics available for this player.