22 Notable alumni of Alcorn State University
Updated: June 13, 2026 EliteDegrees
Alcorn State University is ranked #3,799 in the world and #1,002 in United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 22 notable alumni from Alcorn State University sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff. Many individuals affiliated with Alcorn State University won Nobel Prizes for Peace, in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Economics.
1. Alexander Graves
1844-1916 (aged 72)
lawyer
politician
Alexander Graves was a U.S. Representative from Missouri.
2. Nathaniel Archibald
1952-2018 (aged 66)
basketball coach
basketball player
Nathaniel Archibald was an American basketball player. He is best known for his collegiate career with the Alcorn State Braves, with whom he was named the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Player of the Year as a junior in 1973. He earned back-to-back first-team all-SWAC honors during his final two seasons. During his college career, Archibald scored 1,240 points and grabbed...
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3. Jennifer Riley Collins
1965-. (aged 61)
Jennifer A. Riley Collins is an American attorney and politician.
4. Willie Lee Simmons
1947-. (aged 79)
politician
Willie Lee Simmons is an American politician and former member of the Mississippi State Senate from the 13th District, where he served from 1993 to 2020. Simmons ran and won the election to the Mississippi Transportation Commission for the Central District. Prior to serving in the senate, he worked in the Mississippi Department of Corrections.
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5. Horace R. Cayton
1859-1940 (aged 81)
journalist
politician
Horace Roscoe Cayton Sr. was an American journalist and political activist. The son of a slave and a white plantation owner's daughter, Cayton went to Seattle, Washington, in the early 1890s, launching his own newspaper, The Seattle Republican, in 1894. The paper was the longest-lived of seven African-American newspapers appearing in Seattle between 1891 and 1901, terminating only in 1913.
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6. Trey Johnson
1984-. (aged 42)
basketball player
basketball coach
Clinton "Trey" Johnson III is an American-Qatari basketball coach and former professional player who is the associate head coach for the Jackson State Tigers. He played college basketball with the Alcorn State Braves and the Jackson State Tigers in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC). During his senior year, he won the SWAC Player of the Year award. He has spent...
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7. Alex Owumi
1984-. (aged 42)
basketball player
Alexander Owumi Listen is a Nigerian-American professional basketball player and author. He became the subject of widespread media attention following his time with Al-Nasr, a Libyan team owned by the family of Muammar Gaddafi. Owumi last played for the Worthing Thunder of the National Basketball League Division 1 (NBL 1) in England of which he now owns.
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8. Nate Hughes
1985-. (aged 41)
American football player
Nathan Hughes is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Alcorn State Braves and was signed by the Cleveland Browns as an undrafted free agent in 2008.
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9. Charles Evers
1922-2020 (aged 98)
politician
human rights defender
James Charles Evers was an American civil rights activist, businessman, radio personality, and politician. Evers was known for his role in the civil rights movement along with his younger brother Medgar Evers. After serving in World War II, Evers began his career as a disc jockey at WHOC in Philadelphia, Mississippi. In 1954, he was made the National Association for...
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10. KhaDarel Hodge
1995-. (aged 31)
American football player
KhaDarel Jamal Hodge is an American professional football wide receiver for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Prairie View A&M Panthers.
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11. John Thierry
1971-2017 (aged 46)
American football player
John Fitzgerald Thierry was an American professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Chicago Bears in the first round (11th overall pick) of the 1994 NFL draft. A 6-foot-4-inch (1.93 m), 263-pound (119 kg) linebacker from Alcorn State University, Thierry was moved to defensive end and played in...
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12. Lindsey Hunter
1970-. (aged 56)
basketball player
basketball coach
Lindsey Benson Hunter Jr. is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1993 to 2010, spending most of his career with the Detroit Pistons. He was also the interim head coach of the Phoenix Suns in 2013. Most recently, he served as the head coach at Mississippi Valley State. Former...
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13. Iris Kyle
1974-. (aged 52)
bodybuilder
Iris Floyd Kyle is an American professional female bodybuilder. She is currently the most successful, female or male, professional bodybuilder ever. She has a total of twenty professional bodybuilding titles, with ten overall and two heavyweight Ms. Olympia titles (more Mr. and Ms. Olympia titles than anyone else) and seven overall and one heavyweight Ms. International titles (more Arnold Classic...
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14. Myrlie Evers-Williams
1933-. (aged 93)
civil servant
civil rights advocate
journalist
screenwriter
Myrlie Louise Evers-Williams is an American civil rights activist and journalist who worked for over three decades to seek justice for the 1963 murder of her husband Medgar Evers, another civil rights activist. She also served as chairwoman of the NAACP, and has published several books on topics related to civil rights and her husband's legacy. On January 21, 2013,...
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15. Malcolm Butler
1990-. (aged 36)
American football player
Malcolm Terel Butler is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback for seven seasons in the National Football League (NFL). A two-time Super Bowl champion and 2015 Pro Bowl selection during his tenure with the New England Patriots, Butler is best known for his goal-line interception in the final seconds of Super Bowl XLIX, which prevented a...
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16. Alexander O'Neal
1953-. (aged 73)
composer
singer-songwriter
singer
songwriter
Alexander O'Neal is an American R&B singer, songwriter and arranger who rose to prominence in the mid-1980s as a solo artist, with eleven top 40 singles on the US R&B chart, three of which also reached the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. However, he enjoyed more mainstream success in the United Kingdom, achieving fourteen top 40 singles on...
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17. Leslie Frazier
1959-. (aged 67)
American football coach
American football player
Leslie Antonio Frazier is an American professional football coach and former player. He is currently the assistant head coach of the Seattle Seahawks. He played professional football as a cornerback for the Chicago Bears in the National Football League (NFL), winning a Super Bowl in the 1985 season.
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18. Michael Clarke Duncan
1957-2012 (aged 55)
comedian
television actor
film actor
basketball player
voice actor
Michael Clarke Duncan was an American actor and former basketball player best known for his breakout role as John Coffey in The Green Mile (1999), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and other honors. He also played Kingpin in Daredevil and Spider-Man: The New Animated Series (both 2003). In addition, he appeared in...
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19. Steve McNair
1973-2009 (aged 36)
American football player
Stephen LaTreal McNair, nicknamed "Air McNair", was an American professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. He started his first two seasons with the Houston Oilers before the team relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, becoming the first franchise quarterback of the Tennessee Titans. McNair also played for two seasons with the Baltimore Ravens.
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20. Medgar Evers
1925-1963 (aged 38)
politician
human rights defender
Medgar Wiley Evers was an American civil rights activist who was the NAACP's first field secretary in Mississippi. A United States Army veteran who served in World War II, he was engaged in efforts to overturn racial segregation at the University of Mississippi, end the segregation of public facilities, and expand opportunities for African Americans, including the enforcement of voting...
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21. Alex Haley
1921-1992 (aged 71)
screenwriter
writer
novelist
military personnel
journalist
Alexander Murray Palmer Haley was an American writer and the author of the 1976 book Roots: The Saga of an American Family. ABC adapted the book as a television miniseries of the same name and aired it in 1977 to a record-breaking audience of 130 million viewers. In the United States, the book and miniseries raised the public awareness of...
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22. Larry Smith
1958-. (aged 68)
basketball player
basketball coach
Larry W. Smith, CQ is a Canadian athlete, businessperson and member of the Senate of Canada. He served as Leader of the Opposition in the Senate from April 2017 until November 2019.
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