Arion Carter is getting out of NCAA jail a little early. The Tennessee All-SEC linebacker had his NCAA suspension for signing with an agent and taking a $427 plane flight last January while preparing for the NFL Draft reduced from two games to one game, Tennessee athletic director Danny White announced via social media on Tuesday afternoon. Carter will miss only the season opener against Furman on September and now will be able to play when the 20th-ranked Vols visit Georgia Tech in Week 2.
After his junior season with the Vols in 2025, Carter entered the NFL Draft, but withdrew a month later after a lingering foot issue from the season – he played the final two months with turf toe in both feet, which caused him to miss all of two games and most of a third – continued to hamper him as he started training for the draft process.
Carter withdrew from the draft before the deadline to do so, repaid the money spent on the flight to the training site and disassociated with the agent, but the NCAA still came down with an initial three-game punishment that Tennessee got down to two games.
Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel vehemently defended his senior team leader and before the Vols opened preseason camp blasted the NCAA’s punishment was “b***s***,” and behind the scenes the Vols continued fighting for their player and will now have him back for a key early-season non-conference game.
“The NCAA has agreed to reduce Arion Carter’s suspension from 2 games to 1,” White posted on X. “While I strongly agree with Josh Heupel’s comment about how ridiculous this is in our current environment, 1 game is better than 2. If players around the country are allowed to leave NFL camps and play college football, the NCAA should do the right thing and drop it all altogether.
“This is yet another example of applying archaic rules from another era, without evolving and, most importantly, putting student-athletes’ experiences above bureaucracy. Arion doesn’t deserve this unnecessary distraction. He is everything that is right about college sports, a team leader who has already earned his degree.”
Carter’s situation looks even more ridiculous as multiple players who have been in NFL training camps and played in NFL preseason games line up returns to college football after a federal judge in Colorado ruled that players from the Class of 2022 can receive an extra season of eligibility after the NCAA adopted its five-year eligibility model this summer.
The NCAA had a request for a stay granted that means only athletes involved in specific lawsuits are eligible instead of the ruling serving as a blanket for all Class of 2022 players, but Lane Kiffin and LSU are already reportedly adding a pair of former Ole Miss players in tight end Dae’Quan Wright and defensive lineman Zxavian Harris, who had been with the Cleveland Browns and New Orleans Saints, respectively.
Other NFL players with lawsuits where restraining orders and injunctions have been granted have entered the transfer portal.
Carter isn’t a Class of 2022 athlete, but the injustice in his case is players who were paid by NFL teams after signing pro contracts were potentially returning to college football without any punishment while Tennessee’s top defender had to sit for a much lower amount of money that he repaid.
“I’m not the NCAA,” Heupel said Monday. “I think in general you guys certainly have a clear picture of how I feel about that entire situation to begin with, even before some of the madness that is college football and rosters is in the current landscape that it is.”
The NCAA cited a rule that only applies in football – basketball players can enter the NBA Draft and go through nearly the entire process while maintaining college eligibility – in defending its suspension of Carter.
“NCAA rules are clear: Student-athletes may not sign with agents to pursue NFL draft opportunities, and this student-athlete knowingly violated those longstanding rules,” the NCAA said in a statement. “When student-athletes violate NCAA rules, the school declares them ineligible and works with the national office to determine requirements for reinstatement, which can include repayment and/or withholding from competition.”
Heupel said in a statement after the suspension became public that he and Tennessee disagreed with the punishment, and the head coach threw even more support behind his player and more criticism of the NCAA before the Vols began preseason camp earlier this month.
“I know you guys saw the news about Arion Carter and my release as far as my thoughts with Arion as well,” Heupel said. “There’s a lot of different ways to start this, but at the end of the day, you look at Arion, the person and the player that he is, every single day, his character, how he impacts the people around him in a positive way, who he is on the field, off the field – I think it’s exactly what you would want in a son if you’re his parent, and as a coach, the player that you want inside of your program. To me, (he) embodies everything that’s good about college athletics as young men become grown men inside of this game.
“You look at his decision to choose a school, now going to be here for four years at that program – that’s a rarity inside of college athletics today. Again, I think he embodies everything that college football wants inside of their players and represents the game in such a positive way. First three years here, he’s an SEC Academic Honor Roll member, he’s a member of the SEC Football Leadership Council.
“At the end of the month, he’s going to graduate with honors from the University of Tennessee. He’s done everything the right way. You ask anybody inside of our program, that’s staff and players, he is the leader of this program, and he’s earned the right to be the leader of this program.
“The ruling that came out from the NCAA, the two-game suspension, I truly believe is bullshit. You look at the landscape of college football, the rules from NIL, everything. I think the ruling is completely outdated, and disappointed for him and for us in the result of that ruling.
“A.C. at the end of last year had to make a choice. He chose to put his name in the NFL Draft process. At the end or middle of January, right before the deadline where you have to make a final declaration, he found out that he needed a medical procedure. It was going to require surgery.
“He made the choice and the right choice for him to come back to college football. He was upfront and honest. The fact that he paid back the $400 flight, he’s done everything, handled everything the right way, very truthful and upfront about everything.
“I think it’s unfortunate that a young man that, again, represents everything inside of this game the right way, is faced with that ruling.”
Tennessee still disagrees with Carter having to miss any games, but at least now the Vols will be without their star linebacker for only one game against a Football Championship Subdivision opponent.
