Earlier Wednesday morning, the Alabama Crimson Tide officially removed freshman defensive lineman Antonio Alfano from the team’s online roster.
This comes after sources informed Touchdown Alabama that Alfano would not be returning to the team this season. If he does commit to transferring he will be the first player to leave Tuscaloosa from the 2019 recruiting class.
“I just know that the guy basically quit,” said Nick Saban 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 available to him if he wants them, so until he responds, you just have to assume the guy quit.”
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Following his initial departure from the team, Alfano’s parents released a statement via Twitter highlighting the reasoning behind their son’s decision.
“Antonio’s grandmother recently fell very ill and is fighting on life support,” read the statement. “He is very close with her. Since this illness took effect, Antonio has taken it very hard. He has not attended classes and practice
“The University of Alabama has been extremely supportive and I couldn’t ask for better support from them. Yesterday, Antonio asked to be placed in the transfer portal to see what his options are.“Although he’s in the transfer portal, he still can decide to remain at the University of Alabama. My opinion is that Antonio should stay at the University of Alabama. However he’s an adult and it’s his decision. Antonio knows that his family has & will always be there for him”
Alfano was an early enrollee at Alabama in January where he worked his way to having a very successful spring game as he recorded two sacks. The Crimson Tide have already lost seven scholarship players to the transfer portal which include outside linebacker Eyabi Anomaly’s (Houston), quarterback Jalen Hurts (Oklahoma), tight end Kedrick James (SMU), quarterback Layne Hatcher (Arkansas State), offensive lineman Richie Petitbon (Illinois), defensive back Kyriq McDonald (Cincinnati) and long snapper Scott Meyer (Vanderbilt).
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
