LORMAN — Alcorn State is mourning the loss of one of its football players just a month before the 2008 season is set to begin.

Incoming freshman running back LaDarrius Adams, 17, of Fort Meyers, Fla., was killed on July 24 when the car he was riding in left the road and overturned, said Sgt. Rusty Boyd of the Mississippi Highway Patrol.

Two other incoming freshmen members of the football team, D’Angelo Buckner, 18, and Isaac Williams, 17, both of Clinton, were injured in the accident and taken to Natchez Regional Medical Center with minor injuries, Boyd said.

The accident occurred on U.S. 61 N in Jefferson County just north of Miss. Hwy. 33.

Boyd said Buckner was driving the car with Adams sitting in the front passenger seat and Williams in the back seat when it ran off the left edge of the road.

Buckner overcorrected the car and it went across the right side, then back to the left and off the road, overturning several times, Boyd said.

The car did not strike anything but Adams and Williams were ejected from the car. They were not wearing seatbelts, Boyd said.

Alcorn State athletic director Darren Hamilton said the tragedy is a challenge the school must face.

“It’s not something that you ever want to happen,” Hamilton said. “Life dealt us this challenge and we have to deal with it. Anytime you lose anybody, either friend or foe, there is always some sadness. There is always some grieving period.”

Hamilton said counselors from the university and the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department were available to students in the wake of the tragedy.

“We have the proper professionals to deal with it appropriately,” Hamilton said. “We’re prepared and in the event we don’t have enough for all students, (the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department) offered other councilors. Fayette, Port Gibson and Natchez folks have been very supportive in this situation.”

Hamilton said the university would be there for the Adams family in their time of need.

“We will do what we need to do to support the family and ensure that they grieve in their own way,” Hamilton said. “They have the support of Alcorn State.”