Following a week in which the school made national headlines for suspending football practices over a lack of available athletic training staff, Alcorn State announced it has appointed Roderick Alexander Young as its new head athletic trainer.
As reported by HBCU Gameday, Young returns to Alcorn State after serving served as head athletic trainer for program from 2014 to 2016, when he left for King’s Daughters Medical Center in Brookhaven, Miss. He spent the past five years at the medical center.
“We are excited to have Roderick back at Alcorn,” said director of intercollegiate athletics Derek Horne. “We are well aware of his dedication and loyalty to his profession and the athletes he serves. I’ve reached out to several professionals in his field and they spoke very highly of him and the great skills and qualities he portrayed during his time with their athletic departments.”
Young’s hiring comes a little over a week after it was revealed that Alcorn State’s football program had to miss multiple days of practice after athletic training staff, under contract in the absence of a full-time athletic trainer, came down with COVID-19.
Related: Alcorn State Practices in Limbo Sans Athletic Trainers
ASU eventually procured athletic trainers later that week, and the football team would go on to play well before losing a close game to South Alabama.
“I think the biggest thing that hurt us on Monday and Tuesday — we didn’t get a chance to condition the young men the way that we should have,” head coach Fred McNair said. “We didn’t get a chance to condition at all because of the circumstances. Later on in the game, it kind of caught up with us. Some of my guys started to cramp up because of that.”
“I am excited to return to Alcorn State to work with the administration, coaches and fellow athletic trainers to continue to provide a safe and healthy experience for the student-athletes,” Young said. “I have always been fond of Alcorn since my previous stint as head athletic trainer and look forward to the opportunity in front of me. I want to thank Derek Horne for bringing me back to work with the Braves.”
