'UT would probably go after that school for tampering' – Reporter shares insight on whether Boo Carter could play elsewhere in 2025
Tennessee Vols fans are waiting to hear whether sophomore defensive back Boo Carter will be on the roster this fall. Carter, who is expected to also play on the offensive side of the ball in 2025, has reportedly missed some recent team activities/workouts. As a result, various members of Tennessee's leadership council are unhappy with […]
Tennessee Vols fans are waiting to hear whether sophomore defensive back Boo Carter will be on the roster this fall.
Carter, who is expected to also play on the offensive side of the ball in 2025, has reportedly missed some recent team activities/workouts.
As a result, various members of Tennessee's leadership council are unhappy with the Chattanooga native.
One big question surrounding the Carter situation is whether he could leave Tennessee before the start of fall camp and play elsewhere in 2025 (the last transfer window for the 2025 season closed earlier this spring).
The Knoxville News Sentinel's Adam Sparks joined The Tony Basilio Show on Thursday and he addressed the possibility of Carter playing for another program this fall.
"If he left and played at another school this year, it almost assuredly would be because he used some power that's probably going to be available from a lawsuit between Wisconsin and Miami," said Sparks. "I think it was Wisconsin sued Miami. I think that suit is still going on. It started this summer. I don't remember the player's name (Xavier Lucas), but the player back in the spring, he had signed a revenue sharing agreement with Wisconsin. But it was before the House settlement came. It was sort of a pre agreement. And then he decided after that, 'Well, I changed my mind, I want to transfer to Miami'. They said, 'No, you're under contract here, you can't leave'. He said, 'Well, that contract was based on parameters in a settlement that wasn't even settled when I signed that'.
"So he left on his own, even though it was outside the transfer portal window. And then Wisconsin sued Miami for a breach of contract by taking away one of its players outside of the transfer portal window. The way that I think the NCAA is potentially going to avoid a legal battle there is if they're going to permit — here's the thing, the NCAA can't tell a student, just a regular student, that they can't transfer from one university to another. So if [the NCAA] can't do that, that means a student who is a student-athlete — Boo Carter could just withdraw from Tennessee as a student and then enroll at another school as a student. And then, lo and behold, maybe a couple weeks later, he turns up on the football roster because he walked on. And maybe he is put on scholarship after that because as a preferred walk-on, he earned a scholarship. It's all kind of hazy and an eye roll, because we understand that tampering goes on in all of these situations. It's pretty much any school. But there is a very, very narrow path that he could try to get to another school if he left. Now, if that happened, I think UT would probably go after that school for tampering, but there is a possibility that he could try to do that."
Based on what Sparks said on Thursday, it's possible that Carter could leave Tennessee and play for another program in 2025. But it's far from a certainty that it would work that he could play elsewhere this upcoming season if he decides to leave Tennessee.
The best thing for Tennessee would be for Carter to be on the team this fall. And the best thing for Carter — especially when it comes to his future NFL draft stock — would be to work things out with Tennessee and put this entire situation in the rear view mirror.
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