Rhode Island DB transfer Antonio Carter earns Florida Gators offer
On Monday evening, Billy Napier and the Gators offered one of the top defensive backs available in the NCAA Transfer Portal.
Antonio Carter, a transfer from Rhode Island who entered the portal on April 17, announced an offer from the Gators moments ago. Notre Dame, Kentucky, West Virginia, Minnesota, Baylor, Louisville, Texas A&M, Oregon State, Wisconsin, Iowa, Washington and Ole Miss are some schools that have offered as well.
The Rebels and Badgers played host in late April, and on May 13-15, the 6-foot-1, 200-pound defender will be taking an official visit to Kentucky as well.
Carter’s former teammate, offensive lineman Ajani Cornelius, was also offered by Florida. He has since continued his career with the Oregon Ducks.
During the 2022 season, Carter started all 11 games and racked up 60 tackles, 10 pass breakups, 4.5 tackles for loss, one interception and a sack.
As a two-year starter for the Rams, Carter accumulated 105 tackles, 5.5 sacks, 17 pass breakups, three forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and an interception. He has two years of eligibility remaining after playing three seasons in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA).
According to the On3 Transfer Portal rankings, Carter is a three-star prospect and the 11th best prospect available. He is a native of the Sunshine State who attended high school at Orlando Oak Ridge.
We will see if Napier’s staff can convince Carter to finish out his career back home in Florida. The Gators recently landed Michigan transfer RJ Moten but still lack experience and depth in the secondary. Adding a player like Carter would certainly help Florida is those departments.
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What Gators fans need to know about the transfer portal
The NCAA Transfer Portal, which covers every NCAA sport at the Division I, II and III levels, is a private database with names of student-athletes who wish to transfer. It is not accessible to the public.
The process of entering the portal starts with the school’s compliance office. Once a player provides written notification of an intent to transfer, the office enters the player’s name in the database and everything is off and running. The compliance office has 48 hours to comply with the player’s request.
Once a player’s name shows up in the portal, other schools can contact the player. Players can change their minds at any point and withdraw from the portal. However, once a player enters the portal, the current scholarship is no longer valid. In other words, if a player enters the portal but decides to stay, the school does not have to cover their scholarship.
The database is a normal database, sortable by a variety of topics, including (of course) sport and name. A player’s individual entry includes basic details such as contact info, whether the player was on scholarship and whether the player is transferring as a graduate student.
A player can ask for a “do not contact” tag on the report. In those instances, the players don’t want contact from schools unless they initiate the communication.
Stay tuned to Gators Online.
