USF football player Deangelo Antoine was charged with possession of a controlled substance early Sunday morning, making him the third player to be arrested this month.
Special to the Oracle

For the third time in two weeks, a USF football player has landed behind bars.

Freshman receiver Deangelo Antoine was taken into custody early Sunday morning on felony charges of possessing of a controlled substance, University Police (UP) said.

The 19-year-old Antoine, who has not appeared in a game for the Bulls this season, was released hours later from Hillsborough County Jail on $2,000 bond.

According to UP Assistant Chief Chris Daniel, Antoine and an unidentified female passenger were pulled over around midnight Sunday near the intersection of Fletcher Avenue and North Palm Drive. As the officer approached the vehicle, he detected the odor of marijuana, which gave him probable cause to search the occupants, Daniel said. 

While patting down Antoine, he found “a couple” tablets of Xanax for which Antoine did not have a prescription. No other drugs were found in the vehicle. Daniel said the passenger was not affiliated with the university or the football program.

In a statement, USF Athletics said Antoine has been indefinitely suspended from all team activities.

“USF Athletics is aware of the arrest of student-athlete Deangelo Antoine,” the statement said. “Antoine has been suspended from all team activities as we continue to gather more information and work with the proper authorities.”

Antoine is the third player to be arrested this month. Previously, reserve offensive lineman Benjamin Knox and cornerback Lamar Robbins were arrested following USF’s Homecoming win over Syracuse and charged with discharging a firearm on campus. 

Antoine, an Orlando native, was rated a three-star prospect by 247Sports and ESPN out of Oak Ridge High, where he was named 12th on the Orlando Sentinel’s list of top-60 players in Central Florida and 58th in the state.

His former coach at Oak Ridge, Elijah Williams, told the Sentinel he was disappointed in Antoine’s actions.

“I’m very disappointed, but at the same time, like a parent, once you instill the rules and the ways and values they should go by, once they leave, they have to make their way through the world,” Williams said. 

“Everybody makes mistakes and you have to learn from it and hopefully he won’t repeat it. Hopefully, he’ll use this as a learning experience.”