James Sims enjoys successful season for Kansas football

Eager to make his mark as one of the Big 12's top running backs, Kansas Jayhawks junior James Sims narrowly reached the 1,000-yard rushing plateau for the first time in his career on Saturday afternoon against West Virginia.

The 6'0, 200-pound Sims needed just 44 yards on the ground against the Mountaineers to accomplish the feat, and ultimately ended the day with 57 yards and one rushing touchdown to put the finishing touches on his impressive campaign. Although he has drawn interest from a number of NFL scouts for his value as an interior runner, Sims still told Matt Tait of the Lawrence Journal-World that he plans to put a pro career on hold in order to return to Kansas for his final year of eligibility.

"It’s not my main priority right now," Sims said. "I still feel I need to mature as a running back and work on things before I think about going to the next level."

Despite playing for a team that won just one of its 12 games this season, Sims' accomplishment becomes all the more impressive when you consider that he sat out each of Kansas' first three contests. After getting back on the field in Week 4, the junior halfback then reeled off six 100-yard rushing performances over his next seven games to ingrain himself as the focal point of the team's offense. Along with currently ranking No. 8 on Kansas' all-time rushing list, Sims is a good bet to enter next season as one of the top candidates for the Doak Walker Award