Friday, August 18, 2017

ASU, Tuskegee stars receive national preseason honors

MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- Head coaches Brian Jenkins and Willie Slater aren’t the only recognizable names competing in the rekindled Tuskegee-Alabama State rivalry game Sept. 2 at ASU Stadium.

Senior Sam Baptiste, Jonah McCutcheon and Osband Thompson made the Black College Football player of the year watch list and landed on the BOXTOROW preseason All-American team this week.

Baptiste earned first-team All-SWAC honors for the Hornets last season after helping clear run lanes for the conference’s top rushing attack led by 1,200-yard rusher Khalid Thomas. The 6-foot-4, 340-pound lineman out of Waycross, Georgia has the look of someone who could join another ASU lineman in the NFL.

The Oakland Raiders drafted Jylan Ware in the seventh round last April. Baptiste is on an early path to get that prized phone call next spring.

Right now, Baptiste and the ASU offense is preparing to find ways to move the ball on a Tuskegee defense led by Thompson and McCutcheon.

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