Colorado Suspends Antonio Alfano, Former Five-Star Alabama Recruit, For Violation Of Buffaloes Team Rules
(CBS SPORTS) - The saga of former five-star defensive lineman recruit Antonio Alfano continues at Colorado, and not for the better. On Monday, new Buffaloes coach Karl Dorrell announced that Alfano has been suspended indefinitely for violating unspecified team rules.
Alfano, Alabama's highest-rated recruit for the 2019 class, entered the transfer portal last October. It wasn't entirely clear at the time what the issue was for the No. 5 overall prospect and top-rated defensive line recruit in the country. Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban noted that Alfano was going "through some discipline issues" and that he "kind of disappeared for a little bit."
"He quit going to class; he quit coming here. We tried to encourage him; we tried to help him," Saban said via 247Sports. "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's father, however, said that the player's grandmother had been going through severe health issues. That appeared to at least play a role in Alfano's decision to stop going to class and practice. In any case, Alfano transferred and ended up with former Alabama staffer Mel Tucker at Colorado, where he enrolled in January.
