| FTBL Antonio Alfano no longer on roster, reported in the transfer portal

[Elderfalsedemigod]

Wish him all the best

From everything I've heard this has been a while in coming. He wasn't going to play meaningful snaps because he simply did not put in the work this summer. Period.

There were folks who thought he would be a day one starter. I think he listened to them and believed he had arrived

 

[rick4bama]

Alabama freshman DL Antonio Alfano enters NCAA transfer portal

Alabama freshman defensive lineman Antonio Alfano has entered the NCAA transfer portal.

The former 5-star recruit was officially listed in the transfer portal on Wednesday evening, 247Sports has confirmed. Alfano was removed from the Crimson Tide’s roster earlier Wednesday.

Alfano had been “going through some discipline things with” head coach Nick Saban in early September. He also missed three of the Tide’s preseason camp practices “for personal reasons.” But after his parents put out a statement on Twitter, Saban shared his most revealing update yet.


“I just know that the guy basically quit,” Saban said in September. “He quit going to class, he quit coming here. We tried to encourage him, we tried to help him. We had tried to set up counseling sessions with him to help him every way we could. And all those things are still available to him if he wants them, but he didn’t respond to any of the things, so until he responds, you just have to assume the guy quit.”

Alfano was the Crimson Tide’s highest-rated recruit in its 2019 No. 1-ranked class as 247Sports’ No. 1 overall prospect. Alfano earned first-team all-state honors at Colonia (N.J.) High School after a senior season that saw him record 76 tackles, including 28 tackles for loss, 10 sacks, 10 quarterback hurries and six forced fumbles. He also saw time as an offensive lineman.

Alfano enrolled early at Alabama in January, and the 6-foot-4, 285-pound lineman recorded two sacks in April’s spring game. But he has not played in any game this season.

Established in October of last year, the NCAA’s transfer portal now allows collegiate student-athletes to merely enter their name into an online database and wait for collegiate teams to contact them. It is also worth noting that players can withdraw their name from the portal, too.


CLICK HERE FOR 247SPORTS' LIVE TRANSFER PORTAL FEED

Alabama has lost eight scholarship players to transfers this year in Alfano, linebacker Eyabi Anoma (Houston), quarterbacks Jalen Hurts (Oklahoma) and Layne Hatcher (Arkansas State), tight end Kedrick James (SMU), offensive lineman Richie Petitbon (Illinois), defensive back Kyriq McDonald (Cincinnati) and long snapper Scott Meyer (Vanderbilt).

Alfano’s departure from the Crimson Tide program is the first from the 2019 class.

 

[Rolltide24]

I'm having a deja vu moment here...

 

[BamaFan334]

Well, we sure could have used him. Hope he finds peace wherever he ends up.

 

[JoseyWalesTheOutlaw]

Bama was 2 of 3 from Jersey

Averett and Minkah were really good players.

Sal Amato...........Why? We ain't great. We're just some guys from Jersey. (Eddie and The Cruisers)

 

[rick4bama]

Averett was from my wife hometown and high school!! GO Thundering Herd !! But as my wife would say Go Bisons!!

 

[alabama mike]

Hopefully, he gets his stuff together and will be happy where ever he lands.

 

[UAgrad93]

Just like football isn’t for everyone, BAMA football isn’t for everyone!!!

 

[94 Grad]

When you get to the point of not showing up to classes or workouts... it's a bit tough to get it turned around. At that point you're really an outsider and it may be best to just move on and have a new start somewhere else. That Freshman year can be very difficult, it was for me and I made some poor choices. I learned from them and grew from it as I hope this kid does too.

 

[mando]

Not saying it is not hard and I do wish the kid best of luck but you need the ability to tough it out to see if things get better. I think I read somewhere else that this kid also attended like 3 different high schools. This may be a pattern with him that he will have to fix to be successful in life no matter where he goes or what he does in life.

 

[JoshB]

When you get to the point of not showing up to classes or workouts... it's a bit tough to get it turned around. At that point you're really an outsider and it may be best to just move on and have a new start somewhere else. That Freshman year can be very difficult, it was for me and I made some poor choices. I learned from them and grew from it as I hope this kid does too.

If you aren't showing up for classes - and don't drop them - you would end up losing your scholarship anyway, too.

 

[bamafan9201]

If you aren't showing up for classes - and don't drop them - you would end up losing your scholarship anyway, too.

Also those grades follow him to the new school too. It would be really hard to bring your GPA up to NCAA standards if you get a 0 in a semester

 

[bamaledge]

Like y’all, I hope he gets straightened out but i think he needs to get help in order to do that.
I, also, think his track record may hurt his chances at a second chance.
Good luck AA, and God speed.

 

[LeGarrette]

He went from hype to quit in no time flat. I don't care for quitters.

 

[94 Grad]

He went from hype to quit in no time flat. I don't care for quitters.

Give the kid a break... he's 18ish. We all do stupid things and maybe he's going through stuff you just don't understand or know about. He's not out there bad mouthing the program or show boating or anything. Wish him well an move on. The Program will be just fine without him and he'll turn out just fine if he can look back at this time and learn from it.

 

[94 Grad]

Also those grades follow him to the new school too. It would be really hard to bring your GPA up to NCAA standards if you get a 0 in a semester

I don't remember if he was enrolled in classes this summer, but putting that aside...

As a guess, he's most likely only enrolled in 6 credit hours during Fall term. and would still have 18 credit hours before he's considered a Sophomore. So He'd have Spring and Summer terms to get those credits and bring up the GPA to a 1.8. So that's just averaging a 2.4 for those remaining 18 credit hours. That really shouldn't be too difficult with all the help these kids get in studies. Also, he could apply for a progress toward degree waiver from the NCAA if he falls a bit short.

 

[TerryP]

He went from hype to quit in no time flat.

Give the kid a break...

I don't remember if he was enrolled in classes this summer, but putting that aside...

Let's try something on for size. Quit versus never started. Both come into play.

The class discussion really is moot. It's one of those aspects of college he never took seriously. There was a reason he was in the "dog house" in the first place. When he arrived and started anything that wasn't football was left to the wayside. Football he's on top of. The other aspects of being in college? No...

So, where are we left? We're talking about a team and a player like Alfano and we're looking at what was going on in the spring ... now the team is in their off-season. Things didn't get better outside of football and became worse with football.

He never took "off the field" seriously. After that catches up with him we see him leave football activities. Quit, is a fair word here. Accurate. In fact, I'd argue polite.

A lot of sub-plots with Alfano ...
Size, recruiting ranking, potential position ... none of those comments have been "he couldn't play."

 

[OldPlayer]

I don't remember if he was enrolled in classes this summer, but putting that aside...

As a guess, he's most likely only enrolled in 6 credit hours during Fall term. and would still have 18 credit hours before he's considered a Sophomore. So He'd have Spring and Summer terms to get those credits and bring up the GPA to a 1.8. So that's just averaging a 2.4 for those remaining 18 credit hours. That really shouldn't be too difficult with all the help these kids get in studies. Also, he could apply for a progress toward degree waiver from the NCAA if he falls a bit short.

He would have to be enrolled in the summer to take part of any Summer workouts. Typically students take two classes per Summer session so that would be 12 credit hours he would have achieved (assuming he passed everything). To participate in football, you must be a fulltime student which is 12 credit hours in the Fall (not 6).

Unless he drops down a division, or goes to JC, or gets a special exemption from the NCAA, he won't be eligible to play in 2020 due to the transfer requirement to sit out. We had this discussion earlier of how he could be eligible (does he use 2019 as a redshirt year therefore being eligible in 2020 or does he use 2019 as a redshirt year AND have the requirement to sit out if he goes to another D1 school? [the answer is the latter]). Any way you look at it, he has time to get his GPA up in order to be eligible.

 

[OldPlayer]

Let's try something on for size. Quit versus never started. Both come into play.

The class discussion really is moot. It's one of those aspects of college he never took seriously. There was a reason he was in the "dog house" in the first place. When he arrived and started anything that wasn't football was left to the wayside. Football he's on top of. The other aspects of being in college? No...

So, where are we left? We're talking about a team and a player like Alfano and we're looking at what was going on in the spring ... now the team is in their off-season. Things didn't get better outside of football and became worse with football.

He never took "off the field" seriously. After that catches up with him we see him leave football activities. Quit, is a fair word here. Accurate. In fact, I'd argue polite.

A lot of sub-plots with Alfano ...
Size, recruiting ranking, potential position ... none of those comments have been "he couldn't play."

The class discussion isn't moot because his "five years to play four" starts when he begins classes. If he doesn't make progress towards a degree, he can't play (regardless of playing/transfer/redshirt eligibility).

 

[TerryP]

The class discussion isn't moot because his "five years to play four" starts when he begins classes.

Moot, in the sense if he never took it seriously—and he didn't—there's never going to be an answer that fits everyone's liking. Moot point, moot discussion.