Decision Day: Alabama, Ohio State, or Tennessee for 2023 LB Arion Carter?
Decision day for Smyrna (Tenn.) linebacker Arion Carter has arrived much sooner than expected.
The fast-rising prospect initially intended on signing on Dec. 21 before announcing his commitment at the All-American Bowl on Jan. 7. That recently changed, however, as Carter will now reveal his college decision on Wednesday afternoon.
Carter’s impending commitment comes days after the four-star recruit wrapped up an official visit to Alabama. He’s also been on official visits to Ohio State and Tennessee in the past few weeks.
Here are the details for Carter’s announcement, as well as an assessment of where he is currently trending.
Commitment Date: Dec. 14
Finalists: Alabama, Ohio State, and Tennessee
Where: Smyrna High School
Time: 12:00 p.m. Central
How Carter will announce: Carter will likely announce his decision on his Twitter or Instagram accounts.
Discussion: Talk of Champions Message Board
Where is Alabama linebacker target Arion Carter trending?
Note: The On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine will be updated to reflect current percentages leading up to Carter’s decision.
The Alabama Crimson Tide had all the momentum for Arion Carter a couple of months ago.
When he was still a Memphis Tigers commit, a trio of On3 expert predictions were submitted in favor of Alabama landing Carter. As of publishing this article, those three predictions are still intact.
Since these picks have not changed, Bama currently holds the lead on the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine. The RPM gives the Crimson Tide an 74.3 percent chance of landing the 6-foot-1, 210-pound linebacker.
UPDATE: The RPM now favors Tennessee (54.6 percent) after a prediction came in for them from BamaInsider Director of Recruiting Andrew Bone.
In the past few weeks, the in-state Tennessee Volunteers have made a strong run at Carter. On3 Director of Recruiting Chad Simmons reported after Carter’s official visit to Tennessee (Dec. 2-4) that the program made things “quite a bit interesting” with Alabama.
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“I think what’s brought Tennessee back in this race is Carter’s connection with [head coach Josh] Heupel,” Simmons said on The Inside Scoop. “They talk about a lot of things outside of football. They can stay on the phone for hours, I’m told, holding those meaningful conversations. From what I’m told, this weekend could not have gone better for both Carter and Tennessee.”
As mentioned above, Alabama got their chance with Carter this past weekend for an official visit. Bama appeared to knock it out of the park during Carter’s time in Tuscaloosa.
STORY: ‘I had an amazing time at ‘Bama’: 4-star LB Arion Carter recaps official visit
“I had fun. I had a really amazing time at ‘Bama,” Carter told Simmons this week. “Love the coaching staff, love what they’re doing there. Especially with the track background of just developing guys, that speaks for itself. Just going in, it felt like a place that I could go and an environment that I would like to be around.”
Whoever earns Carter’s commitment on Wednesday is getting someone who was one of the nation’s best kept secrets up until August. After putting together a strong senior season, Carter rose up to No. 157 overall on the 2023 On3 Consensus. He also checks in as the No. 15 linebacker and the second-ranked prospect in Tennessee.
If Carter commits to Alabama, then he’d be adding to what is currently the top-ranked class in the country. Stay tuned this afternoon to see if the Tide will come out on top and earn commitment No. 26 in their 2023.
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