A high-profile addition to the Colorado football roster is apparently no more.
Antonio Alfano was suspended by the Colorado football team in early March for unspecified violations of team rules. Two months later, it’s been confirmed by a Colorado football official that Alfano is no longer a member of the Buffaloes. In fact, the defensive lineman is no longer even enrolled at the Pac-12 school.
No reason for the divorce was given.
On his personal Twitter account in early November, Alfano announced that he officially decided to move on from Alabama to Colorado. Alfano’s decision came shortly after taking a visit to the CU campus, and nearly a month after officially entering the NCAA transfer database.
This week’s development was the latest in what’s been a series of headlines for one of the top recruits in the Class of 2019. And not necessarily positive headlines. To say the least.
Alfano was suspended for unspecified reasons and didn’t dress for Alabama’s Week 2 home opener against New Mexico State. Not long after, Nick Saban added a bit of mystery to Alfano’s status when he stated that the highly-touted defensive lineman has “kind of disappeared a little bit” before launching into an oral dissertation about failing to confront and learn from one’s mistakes.
On Twitter in mid-September of 2019, Alfano’s parents stated that, in large part because of an ailing grandmother, their son “has not attended classes or practices” for an unspecified period of time. Against their wishes, the parents also confirmed that Alfano was entering the transfer database, although at the time it wasn’t yet official.
Saban offered up an update a couple of days after the family’s social-media statement in which the head coach, very bluntly, stated that the defensive lineman had basically quit the team as he hadn’t shown up for football-related activities, classes or counseling for unspecified issues. The player wasn’t responding to attempts by the team to contact him, either, Saban added.
During summer camp last year, Alfano missed a couple of practices for what were described as personal reasons but ultimately returned to the team. Even before the suspension, the lineman didn’t play in the season opener against Duke.
A five-star 2019 signee, Alfano was rated as the No. 1 strongside defensive end in the country; the No. 1 player at any position in the state of New Jersey; and the No. 5 player overall on 247Sports.com‘s composite board. He was the highest-rated Crimson Tide signee during this most recent cycle.
One final note: Alfano went to three different high schools in four years. Which means, in less than six years, he’s been part of five different football programs.
The next buyer, beware.