Former prized Alabama signee Antonio Alfano resurfaces in junior college

One of the top recruits in the 2019 class has resurfaced at the junior college level, making a second stop there in the hopes of eventually playing FBS football. It’s certainly been a long and winding journey for former Alabama five-star defensive line signee Antonio Alfano. In his latest bid to reach the major college football level again, Alfano has enrolled at Lackawanna in Scranton, Pa.

Alfano initially enrolled at Alabama as one of the top prospects in the 2019 recruiting class, but things didn’t work out and he wouldn’t be with the Crimson Tide for long, despite his status as one of the most high-profile recruits in the class.

According to the On3 Consensus recruiting rankings, Alfano was the No. 9 overall player in the nation in 2019 and the top defensive line prospect in the class.

After enrolling at Alabama and going through spring practices in 2019, Alfano ended up transferring out to Colorado. Things took an interesting turn after Antonio Alfano arrived at Colorado, having committed to coach Mel Tucker.

Tucker, for one, left for the open Michigan State job, leaving Alfano without the coach he’d committed to. Then Alfano was suspended indefinitely for a violation of team rules after Karl Dorrell took over as head coach. Alfano also began to have issues with epilepsy.

While at Colorado he experienced some scary epileptic seizures that prevented him from playing. Noted Colorado coach Karl Dorrell at the time, via the Denver Post: “We don’t quite have a handle on his medical situation well enough to be released to practice and to compete right now.”

Unable to play at Colorado, Alfano left and would later wind up at Independence Community College in Kansas. He spent last spring there but is now seeking a new JUCO opportunity at Lackawanna in Scranton, Pa.

Medically cleared and working out again, can Alfano play his way back into the FBS ranks? That remains to be seen. But it certainly appears the story is not yet complete for one of the 2019 class’ top talents, with Antonio Alfano back in pursuit of his goal of playing high-level college football.