Two Hornets on All-SWAC first team

BIRMINGHAM -- When Alabama State football coach Reggie Barlow began making preparations to attend this year's Southwestern Athletic Conference media day, he found himself facing a tough choice: Who would he take?

It's customary for coaches to take along two players to the preseasonmedia events -- one offensive representative and one defensive representative. Finding a defensive rep was no problem. The Hornets have a roster stacked with recognizable -- and in some cases feared -- defensive players.

The offensive rep, however, was a bit more troublesome. ASU doesn't have an experienced quarterback or running back returning, none of the returning wideouts were particularly dominant last season and the offensive line still has big question marks.

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ASU Hornet coaches hope reinforcements are on the way

Photo: ASU Hornets head coach Reggie Barlow.

As Alabama State's final week of spring practice opened on Monday, the guys in charge were not very happy. There was a lot of yelling, a lot of running after practice and some very frank comments from the head coach.

"When we came into the spring, we had our eyes on the players we thought would step up and step out," ASU coach Reggie Barlow said. "So far, some of those guys haven't played as well as we think they can. We were looking for the five-to-eight guys who would take that next step and be big contributors, and we've had only a couple of guys to do that."

The lack of productivity has the coaching staff eyeing the arrival of several transfers and junior college signees expected ...

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ASU Hornets team back at work

Photo: Hornets RS junior QB Alex Engram (#3) may be ASU's #1 quarterback. Here, he passes over junior defensive back Roderick West #28, in spring practice.

After a 13-day layoff, the Alabama State football team got back to spring practice Wednesday night, as the Hornets hit the field for an unscheduled practice. The two-hour session went about like head coach Reggie Barlow figured it might -- lots of energy, but several signs of rust.

"Lots of dropped passes, the quarterbacks are a little off," Barlow said. "You can tell that we've had a long layoff. But I do like the energy. That's really encouraging to see the guys fly around and get after it."

Wednesday's practice was a last-minute addition, added because of inclement weather on Tuesday that rained out a scheduled practice.

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Roundtree, Munnerlyn move to Alabama State Hornets

North Marion High School graduate William Roundtree and Vanguard High alumnus Tyrell Munnerlyn both signed football scholarships with four-year program Alabama State last week.

The former county standouts made the jump from the junior college ranks at Alan Hancock College in California to Montgomery, Ala., after both were honored in the Western State Conference as sophomores.

Roundtree, a linebacker, led the Bulldogs with 111 tackles and was selected a first-team all-conference performer for the second-straight year.

Munnerlyn, a wide receiver, hauled in a team-best 42 catches for 824 yards and 8 touchdowns. He averaged a hefty 19.6 yards per catch and landed on the WSC second team.

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