JACKSON, Miss.- The Southwestern Athletic Conference Alumni Association has announced its slate of individuals who will be honored during its annual Legends Awards and Roast on Saturday, May 20, 2023. The event will be held at 7 p.m. at the Embassy Suites Ridgeland on 200 Township Place.
The Association’s Legends Awards and Roast annually honors former student-athletes as well as former or current coaches, athletics administrators or staff members who have had positive impacts on the historic conference.
Recipients are honored with the Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award, Charles “Chuck” Prophet Wagon Master Award, or the Dennis E. Thomas Distinguished Service Award, the latter being the highest honor bestowed upon an individual by the Association. One of the highlights of the event is a roast, which pays homage to an individual who has distinguished himself or herself on a national scale.
This year, three individuals are slated to receive Lifetime Achievement Awards, including former Jackson State University and Chicago Bears standout running back Walter Payton (posthumously), Alcorn State University Vice-President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management and former football student-athlete Tracy M. Cook, and Texas Southern University Operations Director/Marketing and Promotions Manager Stefann Robinson, who also worked in athletics administration at Southern University and Prairie View A&M University.
The Charles “Chuck” Prophet Wagon Master Award is given annually to a current staff member for meritorious service to a SWAC-member institution or the conference office. This year’s honoree will be Adeanah Pooler, a former Texas Southern athletics administrator who now serves as Senior Associate Commissioner and Senior Woman Administrator at the SWAC Office in Birmingham, Ala.
The prestigious Dennis E. Thomas Distinguished Service Award will be presented to former Alcorn State University and Philadelphia Eagles football star Roynell Young. Young is founder and CEO of Pro Vision, a Houston, Tex.-based organization which mentors youth through its co-educational primary and secondary school.
Following the awards ceremonies, the fun event of the day will be the Roast, whose Guest of Honor this year will be Dr. Walter Reed, the iconic former Director of Athletics at Jackson State and Florida A&M who was also a co-founder of the SWAC Alumni Association. A host of former athletes and administrators will “roast” Reed during the event.
Tickets for the Legends Awards and Roast are $75 each or $600 for a table of eight. Checks, money orders or cashier checks should be made payable to “SWAC Alumni Association” and mailed to P.O. Box 5815, Birmingham, AL 35207.
Electronic and online payments can also be made using Zelle (amooreswac@gmail.com). For questions regarding ticket and table purchases, please contact Alvin Moore at
amprint1949@aol.com or by telephone at (205) 222-1044.
Proceeds from the Legends Awards and Roast benefit the SWAC Alumni Association Degree Completion Scholarships, which provides financial support to student-athletes in the conference whose eligibility has expired and who are within 30 hours of graduating.
About the SWAC Alumni Association
The purpose of the SWAC Alumni Association, which was founded on December 10, 1999 in Birmingham, Ala., is to support Southwestern Athletic Conference events, promote the conference’s athletics heritage and help preserve its legacy of competitive excellence. Former student-athletes from any SWAC-sponsored sport and from all member institutions are eligible for membership, as are current and former coaches, athletics administrators and staff members as well as game officials, employees of the conference office and supporters of SWAC athletics.