LORMAN — Alcorn State University has solved its athletic trainer issue.

A week after it was forced to cancel two football practices because a certified trainer was not available, the university announced it has filled the position by hiring Roderick Alexander Young as its new head athletic trainer.

Young comes to Alcorn after working for five years at King’s Daughters Medical Center in Brookhaven.

“We are excited to have Roderick back at Alcorn,” Derek Horne, Alcorn’s director of intercollegiate athletics, said in a statement. “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.”

Alcorn has been without an athletic trainer since earlier this year, when Fred Worthy left the university to take another job. NCAA rules require a trainer to be present for all practices, and Alcorn elected to contract its trainers from Merit Health.

The issue came to a head two weeks ago, when the football team had to cancel two practices ahead of a road game at South Alabama and head coach Fred McNair criticized the situation on his weekly radio show.

This will be Young’s second stint with Alcorn State’s athletics department. He was the head athletic trainer for the Braves from 2014-16 before heading to King’s Daughters Medical Center.

“Roderick has kept in close contact with several of our coaches and staff over the years and I know he has always had a special place in his heart for Alcorn,” Horne said. “We are happy to welcome him back.”

Young was an athletic trainer for Mississippi Sports Medicine from 2003-14 and worked with hundreds of athletes across numerous sports in Central Mississippi, including men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s tennis, and volleyball.

He received a Master of Arts in Sports Management from Jackson State University in 2016. The Jackson native received his undergraduate degree from Delta State University in 2009 after transferring from Hinds Community College, where he received “HCC Trainer of the Year” honors.

Young is a certified and licensed athletic trainer, registered orthopedic technologists, American Red Cross First Aid/CPR/AED instructor trainer, and a member of National Athletic Trainers’ Association.

“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 in a statement. “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.”