Notre Dame graduate student safety Antonio Carter II enters NCAA Transfer Portal
After one season at Notre Dame, graduate student defensive back Antonio Carter II is back on the market. The 5-foot-11¾, 207-pounder announced his decision to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal on Monday. Carter has one more year of collegiate eligibility remaining.
He made his decision public about an hour after the Irish landed a commitment from Arizona State graduate student defensive back Jordan Clark. Carter primarily played free safety for the Irish, while Clark expects to join the program as a slot cornerback.
Carter transferred to the Fighting Irish on May 13 as a University of Rhode Island graduate. After four seasons with the Rams, Carter committed to Notre Dame over portal offers from Florida, LSU, Texas A&M, Iowa, Washington, Wisconsin, Ole Miss and others.
In his one season with the Irish, Carter appeared in 8 games. He had 8 tackles (7 solo) and 1 forced fumble. He saw 72 defensive snaps, mostly at free safety and linebacker. Carter was also a special teams contributor, primarily participating on the kick coverage unit.
After he decided to transfer to Notre Dame, Rhode Island coach Jim Fleming shared his disagreement with the move to Blue & Gold through a Rhode Island spokesperson.
“He worked hard and took coaching, which allowed him to develop towards reaching his fullest potential as a football player, student and young man,” Fleming said. “I am surprised, with the resources available to a university like Notre Dame, that they could not have recognized his talent as we did as a young player and that, instead, they would need to come to a top-level FCS school in the University of Rhode Island to fill their roster.”
Antonio Carter II switched from cornerback to safety at Notre Dame
Before transferring to Notre Dame, Carter primarily occupied the outside cornerback position for Rhode Island. He appeared in 21 games in his last two seasons with the Rams. He recorded 105 tackles (73 solo), 5.5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks and 17 pass breakups in those games. In the turnover department, he had an interception, 3 forced fumbles and 3 fumble recoveries.
Carter began his college career in 2019 and appeared in three games. During his redshirt freshman season in 2020-21, he had 7 tackles and his first career interception.
Carter is originally from Orlando (Fla.) Oak Ridge. He did not hold a rating from any primary recruiting media service as a high school recruit.
