Alvin Scioneaux '13 was a four-year letterman and three-time first team All-Southern Conference selections at linebacker. For his career, had 268 total tackles 42 tackles for loss and 17 sacks. During his senior season, finished third on the team with 75 total tackles. As a junior he led the team and was second in the Southern Conference in tackles for loss with 14.0 for 64 yards. He holds the school record for forced fumbles with ten. Earned third team All-America honors as a sophomore. A native of Garyville, Louisiana, he was inducted in to the Wofford Athletics Hall of Fame in 2018. He was a physics major at Wofford and earned a master of science in mechanical engineering from San Diego State. He currently resides in Los Angeles. 

How did you decide to attend Wofford?

I choose Wofford on the pure basis of offering the best combination of academics and athletics. Being a top liberal arts school in the nation while also having Southern Conference success on the football field played a huge part. Of course, people like Coach Mike Ayers, Coach Nate Woody, and Coach Nathan Fuqua only made it that much more of a simple choice for me.

What is your favorite Wofford football memory?

Of all the Wofford Football memories, it is hard to just choose one. Some of my most memorable moments would include:

2010 Season - vs Georgia Southern - close game but we pull ahead by 2 points late in the fourth quarter. I remember they were barely in field goal range and ran a misdirection with the RB to get closer. The misdirection play fooled the entire defense with nothing but open field for a possible score. Luckily, Ameet Paul and I were there to actually convert the play into a loss of 6 yards and knock them out of field goal range. I remember this is where my sack celebration dance was initially created. We went on to win by those 2 points.

2011 Season - vs Chattanooga - we are down by a touchdown with 4 minutes left in the game and they are driving down the field to run the clock out. Coach Woody called a great defensive play, the defense disguised the coverage perfectly, and their QB went to throw a quick out route to the outside WR. I was able to get under the route quickly and get one hand on the ball to intercept the pass. We eventually drove down the field and scored to win by one point with 30 seconds left in the game. Talk about a heart racing, last second victory.

2012 Season - vs South Carolina - the fact that the all mighty USC of Carolina was tied 7-7 in the fourth quarter with little old Wofford says a lot. 

2012 Season - vs North Dakota State - the fact that Wofford defense scored as many touchdowns as the almighty NDSU offense and almighty Wofford offense (sorry offense) shows how great of a defense we had that year. Wofford 2012 defense is arguably the best all around defense to ever come through Wofford College Football top to bottom. You can check the stats if you have any doubts.

2013 Season - vs Presbyterian College - the entire game was full of the most athletic plays by a defense I have ever seen in my life. We won the game 55-14 with one of their scores coming in the last minute of the game. However, I just remember the defense flying around, jumping over, running through, and scoring in just about every fashion imaginable. I am pretty sure every person on the defense recorded a TFL (tackle for loss) which is unheard of for an entire defense to do. Also, our 2011 meeting vs PC was more of the same. During that game, I had two QB sack fumbles, another feat rarely seen in football.

2013 Season - vs Elon University - the game was back and forth the entire time. They scored with 6 minutes left and then we responded with a touchdown with 5 minutes left in the game to go up by 4 points. They need to score a touchdown to win as a field is not enough. They drive down the field, 17 plays, 73 yards, and 4:58 minutes later. Elon is 2 seconds and 1 yard away from beating us. They drew up a power run play to the strong side of the defense. Coach Woody had us prepared and the defense showed how to bend but not break. We stuff the play as time expires and walk off the field victorious. I remember watching film the next day, seeing Tarek Odom (RIP), Mike McCrimon, and myself stuff the run as anyone on our defense would have done. Another heart racing, last second victory.

2013 Season - vs Samford University - the season is about 2/3 done and strength coach, Coach Medler, came up to me at the beginning of the game and said "Alvin, I thought you were a game changing type of player based on what I heard about you. Honestly, you just seem like another good player, but not quite game changing." The funny part is the very first defensive drive, about 1.5 minutes into the game, I intercepted a quick out route and ran it all the way back for a Wofford touchdown. You bet Coach Medler was the first person I spoke to when back on the sideline, and I asked him, "Is that game changing enough for you?" We both laughed.

Shout out to all of the defensive line, linebackers, defensive backs, and defensive coaches I have played with over the years while at Wofford. You all truly made it exciting everyday. As far as the offense, thank you for giving us a challenge every now and then.

What is your favorite Wofford memory?

My favorite Wofford memory is the same as my favorite Wofford Football memory. However, if I have to choose something outside of football, then it would be within the physics and mathematics department, since that is what I studied while at Wofford. I know the subjects do not sound fun at all, and you would be correct on that sentiment. However, I wholeheartedly view myself as a Life Long Learner. My time within both of these departments forced me to expand my mind in many different ways and contributed a lot to my current mindset. For that, I am forever grateful to my professors while at Wofford, for pushed me to become the best student I could possibly be. With their continuous attempt to inspire more within me, I graduated as an D-1 All-American athlete and STEM scholar at a very academically prestigious college, an accomplishment I am very proud of.

How did competing as a student-athlete prepare you for life after Wofford?

Time management skills are something every single student athlete in college will learn to perfect. A typical schedule would be 6am workouts, 8am-11am class, 12pm film, 2pm-5pm class/lab, 6pm practice, 9pm school work, and hopefully getting some time to eat and sleep in between all of that. All of the 24 hours and 2.56 seconds in every day will be used to the fullest. That is a guarantee.

Do you have a favorite Wofford professor or mentor that impacted you?

There are many Wofford professors and mentors that had a great impact on me. I do not want to leave anyone out, but to name a few would be the entire football coaching staff including Coach Ayers, Coach Woody, Coach Fuqua, and Coach Teachy. The entire Physics and Mathematics departments including Dr. Salley, and Dr. Catlla. The many alumni, faculty, mentors, and friends over the years including Dr. Laray Benton, Dr. Chad Starks, Josh Medler, Will Christman, Mrs. Traci Wilson and many others. I can not narrow it down to any one person and there is certainly more I could add to this list. However, I really appreciate everyone that played a vital role in my development and maturity while at Wofford. 

Could you tell us a little about what you are doing now and your career path?

After my time at Wofford, I went on to play in the NFL for the Los Angeles Chargers for a year, and the Edmonton Eskimos in the Canadian Football League for a year. After I decided to not pursue my football career due to injury and other factors, I applied for graduate school in Mechanical Engineering. I received a great opportunity to attend San Diego State University where I was highly involved in leadership, being on the executive board of N.S.B.E. (National Society of Black Engineers) among various other extracurricular activities. My graduate research paper was entitled "Reacting Flow Simulation using Parallel Computing on Linux for Stabilized Premixed Stagnation Flames" and .....that is a very long title. I recently graduated with my Masters of Science in Mechanical Engineering from SDSU and had the opportunity to decide where I wanted to work, as Northrop Grumman, NASA, Lockheed Martin, and other big corporations within the Aerospace and Defense Industry were in pursuit of my services. I am currently a Mechanical Engineer at Northrop Grumman while being a model, actor, and fitness trainer in Los Angeles, California. I have worked with many big photographers, and brands like ESPN and Dave&Busters, while being a fitness trainer to many other lawyers and doctors in the Southern California area.

What piece of advice would you give to current Wofford student-athletes?

The advice I would tell the current Wofford student-athletes is to believe in yourself to the max and never let anyone cast doubt about anything you are set on doing. Everyday, actively become WHO you want to be, refocus on WHY you want to become that, and acknowledge there is no WHAT that will stop you from fulfilling your pursuit in life. There is a lot more I could say for this question, but it would be easier to follow me on social media: Instagram/Youtube: @A1Scioneaux and Facebook: Alvin Scioneaux. I constantly post answers to this specific questions regarding life advice, purpose, and growth. I have a video series called "A1 Minute" where I focus on Knowing Better, Doing Better, and Being Better in just about every aspect of life. If you love to grow and progress in life, as I do, then you will love it.

The advice I would tell the entire Wofford community is to proactively be a solution in this world. I recently was apart of the Wofford Anti-Racism series and it was spectacular. Even though I can be considered a rocket scientist now, it certainly does not take one to acknowledge there is a problem regarding racial discrimination in this country, as there has been since its inception. If we can agree on the foundational problem existence aspect, then we should also agree that those who are not apart of the solution, by default, become apart of the problem. I would hope that the entire Wofford community has the decency, compassion, and backbone to actively be a solution for the many problems we see in our world, country, state, and community every day. 

"There comes a time when silence is betrayal." - Martin Luther King Jr.