Dartmouth wide-receiver recruit Robbie Anthony has been a self-proclaimed sports fanatic his entire life and, when the opportunity arose to play football as a walk-on at Clemson University in Clemson, S.C., he could not refuse.
"I wanted to go to Clemson because I knew that I wanted to study architecture and play football," Anthony said. "There are not many schools that offer architecture, especially in the South."
Anthony, who appeared in just one game for the Tigers and recently completed his sophomore season at Clemson, will transfer to Dartmouth this fall, trading a competitive Atlantic Coast Conference team for an up-and-coming Ivy League squad. He said he is happy about the swap, noting the difficulties of balancing academics and athletics at Clemson.
"I wanted to leave because the architecture program and football program did not mix," Anthony said. "It got to a point where it was logistically impossible to do both and I wanted to go somewhere where I could."
Anthony contacted nearly every school in the League and began communicating with the Big Green's football program in April. He said the transfer application process was "anything but normal."
"I put together a highlight tape of myself from the practice film at Clemson and sent it to my high school coach for him to use in talking to some of the colleges I was interested in transferring to," Anthony said. "He sent it up to Dartmouth and they liked what they saw and wanted me to come play for them."
Anthony will experience a drastic change when he moves from the Tigers' 80,301-person capacity Memorial Stadium to play in front of 15,600 seats at Memorial Field. While Clemson initially attracted him as a member of the Bowl Championship Series, Anthony said that he is eager to find like-minded student-athletes at Dartmouth.
"It is safe to say that for a lot of guys on the team, school was not their first priority," he said. "At Clemson everyone jokes about being athlete-students instead of student-athletes, and I assume it will be hard to pick athletes out in a classroom at Dartmouth."
Anthony plans on majoring in studio art, noting that he will also likely take film studies courses and try his hand at various disciplines.
"If I am nervous about anything, it would be school," Anthony said. "When you think about going to an Ivy League school and the caliber of kids that go there academically, it is kind of intimidating."
A native of Orlando, Fla., Anthony will also have to make adjustments beyond academics.
"I am not really a Southern person, and in Florida it doesn't really feel like the South compared to South Carolina," Anthony said. "But the weather is another story."
Anthony said he is excited to play for Dartmouth, adding that the Tigers' coaches were helpful in facilitating the transfer process.
"The [Clemson] coaches were supportive of my decision to leave," Anthony said. "The head coach was a walk-on at the [University of] Alabama and the wide-receiver coach was a walk-on at Clemson, so they both understood where I was coming from."
Anthony said that his family and friends are excited for him to attend the College, which Anthony called "the entire package."
"Dartmouth's record has steadily improved and I'm looking forward to coming in and trying to improve the record even more in any way I can," Anthony said. "I expect to win an Ivy League Championship."
Dartmouth football head coach Buddy Teevens did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
