Antonio Alfano (born November 10, 2000) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

defensive tackle. He attended

Colonia High School Colonia High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades in the Colonia section of Woodbridge Township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. It operates as part of the ...

and committed to the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the publi ...

on May 18, 2018. On November 4, 2019, Alfano transferred from Alabama to the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University o ...

. On May 29, 2020, it was reported that he was no longer a member of the Colorado football team. As of August 19, 2020, Alfano was reinstated to the football team. He now has an open recruitment, and holds 10+ offers.

High school career

Alfano was born on November 10, 2000, in

Livingston, New Jersey Livingston is a township in Essex County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 29,366, reflecting an increase of 1,975 (+7.2%) from the 27,391 counted in the 2000 Census. In 2019, the Population Estimates Prog ...

. Raised in

Rahway, New Jersey Rahway () is a city in southern Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. A bedroom community of New York City, it is centrally located in the Rahway Valley region, in the New York metropolitan area. The city is southwest of Manhattan ...

, Alfano attended the local public schools through eighth grade before enrolling at

Bergen Catholic High School Bergen Catholic High School is an all-male Roman Catholic high school in Oradell, Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in ninth through twelfth grade. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Coll ...

. He transferred to

Rahway High School Rahway High School is a four-year public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Rahway, in Union County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school of the Rahway Public Schools. The high s ...

in his hometown, before moving from Rahway to the Avenel section of

Woodbridge Township, New Jersey Woodbridge Township is a township in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township is both a regional hub for Central New Jersey and a major bedroom suburb of New York City in the New York metropolitan area located within the ...

, and transferring to

in New Jersey. As a senior, Alfano was a 5-star recruit and the fifth-ranked overall player in the class of 2019, and was named to the All-American team by

MaxPreps MaxPreps is an American website that specializes in coverage of American high school sports. The site is owned by Paramount Global and is a division of CBS Sports. Founded on August 1, 2002, the company has covered up to 29 sports, including b ...

. He received scholarship offers from Alabama, Notre Dame,

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

, USC,

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

, Penn State,

Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and w ...

and others.

College career

As a freshman at Alabama, Alfano was absent from class and practices in September for unspecified reasons, though Alfano's father tweeted that his absence may have stemmed from Alfano's grandmother, who had been in ill-health at the time. Alfano entered the NCAA transfer portal on September 13, 2019, and Colorado Buffaloes head coach (and former Alabama Crimson Tide defensive backs coach)

Mel Tucker Melvin Tucker II (born January 4, 1972) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head football coach at Michigan State University, a position he has held since 2020. Previously, Tucker served as the head football coac ...

announced that Alfano had transferred to Colorado on November 4, 2019. Alabama head coach

Nick Saban Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. (; born October 31, 1951) is an American football coach who has been the head football coach at the University of Alabama since 2007. Saban previously served as head coach of the National Football League's Miami Dolphins ...

addressed Alfano's time with the team by saying Alfano, "basically quit." He did not play any games for the Crimson Tide. Buffaloes head coach Mel Tucker had previously recruited Alfano to

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, where Tucker was the Defensive Coordinator at the time. One month after Alfano officially enrolled at Colorado, Buffaloes head coach Mel Tucker left the program to take the same position at Michigan State University, while Alfano's position coach at Colorado, Jimmy Brumbaugh, also left the program the same week to take a coaching job at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...

. On May 29, 2020, it was reported that Alfano was no longer enrolled at Colorado and no longer a member of the football team. As of August 19, 2020, Alfano was reinstated to the football team.

References

External links

Colorado Buffaloes bio247sports.com bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alfano, Antonio 2000 births Living people Colonia High School alumni American football defensive tackles Alabama Crimson Tide football players Colorado Buffaloes football players Bergen Catholic High School alumni Sportspeople from Rahway, New Jersey People from Woodbridge Township, New Jersey Rahway High School alumni Players of American football from Union County, New Jersey