Tennessee linebacker Arion Carter’s unjust suspension by the NCAA was reduced
Tennessee Volunteers linebacker Arion Carter was suspended by the NCAA because of a plane ticket.
News broke on Wednesday morning that Tennessee Vols linebacker Arion Carter will be suspended for the first two games of the 2026 season (vs Furman and at Georgia Tech).
According to the Knoxville News Sentinel’s Adam Sparks, the NCAA is suspending Carter because “he returned to college after his agent had paid for a $427 flight to an NFL pre-draft training facility.”
Carter, who returned to Tennessee because injuries were going to prevent him from working out for NFL teams before the 2026 NFL Draft, reportedly repaid the money for the plane ticket.
“The [NCAA] found that he committed a Level III violation, a general term that the NCAA rulebook calls a basic breach of conduct,” wrote Sparks. “Level III violations are common and routinely reported by athletic departments at every school. They often result in minor penalties, but Carter’s multi-game suspension is among the harshest in that level of infraction.”
According to On3’s Chris Low, the NCAA initially suspended Carter for three games, but Tennessee appealed the suspension and it was reduced to two games.
The Vols play Kennesaw State the third game of the season.
Tennessee is fortunate to have great depth at linebacker — it’s arguably the deepest position group on the Vols’ roster — but not having Carter on the road against Georgia Tech will still be a blow to UT’s defense. Carter is one of Tennessee’s most important team leaders, and he’s also one of the most athletic defenders on the team.