Alabama dismisses JUCO transfer Charles Baldwin

Alabama coach Nick Saban announced this afternoon that junior college transfer Charles Baldwin is gone from the team.

“Charles Baldwin has been dismissed from the program for a violation of team rules,” Saban said in a one-sentence statement released by the university.

Baldwin, a 6-foot-5, 315-pounder from Windsor, Conn., graduated from ASA College in Brooklyn in December 2015 and enrolled at Alabama in time to go through spring workouts.

Baldwin was ranked No. 1 overall in the Rivals.com junior college preseason 100. He chose Alabama over Georgia, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Michigan State and Miami.

His team went 6-4 in the Northeast Conference last season, and Baldwin was a second-team junior college All-American.

Baldwin graduated from Windsor (Conn.) High in 2014 before attending ASA College. According to the all-time letterman list provided by Alabama Athletics Communications, nobody from Connecticut has lettered for the Crimson Tide football team.

Baldwin committed to Alabama in June 2015.

“It’s a great thing for him. We’re happy for Charles,” Windsor coach Rob Fleeting told the Hartford Courant.

Baldwin told AL.com that he is hoping to play early for the Crimson Tide.

“They were telling me they want me to come in and contribute right way, and the fact I’m coming in as an early enrollee is really going to help,” Baldwin told AL.com.

“I think it’s a good chance I’ll play early as long as I work hard and buy into the system. That’s what the coaches are telling me and that’s what I plan on doing.”

Baldwin wasn’t the first offensive lineman from ASA College to go to Alabama. Leon Brown came out of ASA and spent the 2013-14 seasons with the Crimson Tide. He played in 23 games, starting 13 times. The Baltimore Ravens signed him to a free agent contract, although he didn’t appear in any games this season.

This story was originally published May 12, 2016 at 5:46 PM with the headline "Alabama dismisses JUCO transfer Charles Baldwin."