Jaishawn Barham (born February 2, 2004) is an American

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

for the

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except wo ...

. He previously played for the

Maryland Terrapins The Maryland Terrapins, commonly referred to as the Terps, consist of 19 men's and women's college sports in the United States, varsity intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Maryland, College Park in National Collegiate ...

Early life

Barham was born on February 2, 2004, the son of Anthony Barham and Chrishawn Nelson, and grew up in

District Heights, Maryland District Heights is an incorporated municipality in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, located near Maryland Route 4. Per the 2020 census, the population was 5,959. For more information, see the separate articles on Forestville ...

. He attended high school at Saint Frances Academy in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

, and was a football teammate of Derrick Moore. Barham was rated as a four-star recruit, the 108th overall prospect and the eighth-best linebacker in the class of 2021. He held offers from Penn State, South Carolina, Maryland, Oklahoma, Arizona State, Arkansas, Baylor, Florida, Florida State, Notre Dame and Texas A&M. Barham initially committed to play for the

South Carolina Gamecocks The South Carolina Gamecocks represent the University of South Carolina in the NCAA Division I. The University of South Carolina uses "Gamecocks" as its official nickname and mascot. While the men's teams were traditionally known as the Fight ...

, but ultimately decided to flip his commitment to play for his home state

College career

Maryland

Barham enrolled at the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD i ...

in 2022. He became an immediate starter as a true freshman, starting all 12 games for Maryland. In week 6 of the 2022 season, Barham notched five tackles, two sacks, and a forced fumble against

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donat ...

, and was named the Big Ten Co-Freshman of the week. He finished the season with 59 tackles, 6.5 tackles for a loss, 4 sacks, a pass deflection, and a forced fumble. For his performance, Barham was named honorable mention All-

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

, and named a

Freshman All-American Underclass All-American is an honorific for high school and college athletes for excellence in competition. The athletes recognized with this title are considered the best players of a specific season in their sport that are members of a given cla ...

by College Football News. In 2023, Barham started 11 games for Maryland. On November 18, 2023, Barham recorded seven tackles and his first career interception against his future team, the

. Barham finished his sophomore season notching 37 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 3 sacks, a pass deflection and an interception. Following his sophomore season, Barham was named honorable mention All-Big Ten for a second consecutive season. After the conclusion of the 2023 season, Barham entered the

NCAA transfer portal The NCAA transfer portal is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) application, database, and compliance tool created to manage and facilitate the process for student athletes seeking to transfer between member institutions. It is i ...

Michigan

Barham transferred to the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

in December 2023. Entering his junior season, he was ranked as a top five linebacker in college football by members of the media. Barham started in all 13 games for the Wolverines in 2024 and finished second on the team with 66 tackles, including four tackles for a loss and a sack.

References

External links

Maryland Terrapins bio

Michigan Wolverines bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barham, Jaishawn 2004 births Living people American football linebackers Maryland Terrapins football players Michigan Wolverines football players Saint Frances Academy (Baltimore) alumni People from District Heights, Maryland Players of American football from Baltimore Players of American football from Prince George's County, Maryland