LaMichael James came to Oregon, in part for the swag. He left as the program’s first unanimous first-team All-American and Doak Walker Award winner.

And now, formally, a Hall of Famer. James is one of 22 members — 18 former first-team All-Americans and four coaches — in the Hall of Fame Class of 2023, which was recognized during the 65th National Football Foundation annual awards dinner Tuesday night in Las Vegas.

“To be honest, I was being recruited by a couple of SEC schools, but a lot of them back then were Adidas and I was real big on Nike,” James said of why he chose Oregon as a recruit out of Texarkana, Texas. “I kind of chose — this is a true story — I remember going to Mississippi State and Arkansas, I’m like, ‘I ain’t, I can’t look fly in no Adidas.’ When you’re 17 it’s all about the swag. Then you got to the University of Oregon they got 20 uniforms and all these cleats. I’m like, yeah I can see myself here. But I didn’t know it rained every day.”

James is the sixth Oregon player to enter the college football Hall of Fame, joining quarterback Norm Van Brocklin (1966), running back John Kitzmiller (1969), tackle John Beckett (1972), running back Mel Renfro (1986), running back Ahmad Rashad (2007) and former UO coaches Len Casanova (1977) and Mike Bellotti (2014).

James helped the Ducks reach three BCS bowls from 2009-11 — including the 2011 BCS National Championship game — and win three consecutive Pac-12 titles. He won the Doak Walker Award in 2010 as the nation’s best running back and was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy after leading the nation in rushing yards (1,731), yards from scrimmage (1,939) and touchdowns (24).

James attributed Oregon’s success during his career to there being “no superstars” on the team.

“Everybody was one,” James said. “Nobody cared who scored. Nobody cared who got the tackle. As long as we were winning and we worked hard. We grinded each and every day. Nobody was bigger than the team.”

James was a finalist for the Doak Walker Award and the Paul Hornung Award as the most versatile player in the nation in 2011, when he rushed for 1,805 yards, the second-most by a Ducks player in a season.

He ranks second all-time at Oregon in career rushing yards (5,082), all-purpose yards (5,869), rushing touchdowns (53), 100-yard rushing games (26) and total points scored (348) and is tied for the UO single-season record with 21 rushing touchdowns.

James thanked those from his hometown, UO, fans and others who helped him throughout his career, which included being drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft and later playing for the Miami Dolphins (2014-15).

“You look at it now and you were impactful,” James said. “You go up and you see people, you’re like Oregon is a national brand. Why are they a national brand? I think because of guys like me, Darron Thomas, (De’Anthony Thomas), Royce Freeman, Marcus Mariota, we really elevated Oregon to that top-tier brand.”