Despite being one of the leading rushers in the state as well as the roster being expanded from 37 to 40 players this season, Picayune’s Jamal Hall was not selected for the Alabama/Mississippi All-Star Classic football game.

The entire 40-member roster of high school stars and top collegiate prospects which will represent the state of Mississippi in the annual talent showcase was selected Wednesday by the Mississippi Association of Coaches at the MAC offices here. The rosters for the annual Bernard Blackwell North/South state all-star game were also chosen.

Hall and teammate Joel Davis were picked for the Bernard Blackwell game.

The players were chosen by a special selection committee of the Mississippi Association of Coaches,  which also includes the eight coaches selected to coach this year’s Mississippi team in the All-Star Classic. The squad is comprised of at least one player from each of the state’s eight districts and one player from each of the six classifications. All players in both games are current high school seniors.

Four running backs were chosen for the Mississippi team; South Panola’s Qyen Griffin, Devontay Barnett of West Jones, Bassfield’s Marino Daggins and Joe Price from Madison Central.

Hall has rushed for just over 1,600 yards and 17 touchdowns in seven games this season. Only Griffin’s stats compare to Hall’s.

“It’s hard for me to believe that there are four running backs in the state better than Jamal,” veteran Picayune head coach Dodd lee, who has coached in both games, said.

Barnett has rushed for 248 yards and three touchdowns in eight games this season. Hall ran for 292 yards in one game and also scored four times in one contest.  Barnett has also caught 16 passes for 146 yards and three scores and returned a kickoff for a touchdown.

Price and Daggins have both rushed for around 700 yards this season.

“I was surprised that he wasn’t picked,” Jackson Clarion-Ledger prep football guru Todd Kelly said. “I thought he was kind of a shoo-in. I figured he and Griffin would have been the first two (running backs) selected.”

A pair of West Jones players were picked, Barnett and quarterback Ben Stevens. Also, a pair of Brookhaven linemen were selected as well as Stone County standout Darrion Arrington, giving Region 3-5A five players in the contest.

Picayune Dandy Dozen tight end Malcom Faciane was expected to be selected for the Alabama/Mississippi game before the Alabama commitment suffered a season ending knee injury against Brookhaven last week. No tight end was picked for the Mississippi team.

The Mississippi roster is filled with future SEC and major college players.  The team includes 14 players who have already made verbal commitments to attend SEC and other FBS schools next year and many other highly-recruited prospects who have yet to announce their college preference.

Mississippi State leads all schools with ten commitments on the roster, while Ole Miss has two and Southern Miss and LSU one apiece.

The team will be led by head coach M.C. Miller of Louisville. He will be assisted by Bud Blackledge of Taylorsville, West Point’s Chris Chambless, Buddy Duke of Prentiss, Carlos Thompson of Simmons, St. Martin’s  David Parker, Jerry Walker of Ray Brooks and Meridian’s Larry Weems.

“We had some good talent left off,” Miller said.

The Alabama/Mississippi game will take place on Saturday, Dec. 11th at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Ala., while the Bernard Blackwell game will take place on Saturday, Dec. 18th at Greyhound Stadium in Ocean Springs.

Alabama has won 16 of the 23 meetings,  including a 21-13 victory last year.

The Bernard Blackwell All-Star Football Classic will return to the Coast for the second straight year.

Other South Mississippi selections for the Mississippi team were Gulfport’s defensive tackle Cortez Hatrzog and offensive lineman Justin Troutman, as well as St. Stanislaus center Chris Frigo, Ocean Springs wide receiver Joe Morrow and Tomcat defensive back Arrington.

Other  highly-touted players for Mississippi include South Panola wide receiver Nick Brassell, Madison Central wide receiver Tobias Singleton and West Point quarterback Justin Cox.

Davis is a versatile standout for the Maroon Tide, starting at both fullback and defensive tackle. He is expected to play fullback in the North/South game, lining up in front of Hall.

Davis is expected to miss tonight’s game against Pearl River Central, along with teammate Kresean Bowens after both were injured along with Faciane last week against Brookhaven.