Standout junior tears ACL

The junior season of 2013 inside linebacker Reginald Carter is over, but the Snellville (Ga.) South Gwinnett standout is keeping his spirits up.

After all, it could be worse.

He still has next year.

"That's the bright side," Carter said.

Carter, a 6-feet-1, 220-pounder with 11 FBS offers, was injured last week against Lowndes.

"I tweaked my [right knee] on like the third play of the game," he recalled. "I went to the sideline and got it wrapped up. I started playing again, but I was playing like it was going to get hurt again. Then I started feeling pretty good and playing better. I made two goal-line stops. Then I went out there at outside linebacker … I was coming off the edge .. I tried to cut back in and it just gave out. I really didn't even know what happened. It just went dead. I didn't feel [a pop] or anything. I just laid myself on the ground when I realized I couldn't walk on it."

At the hospital, doctors gave Carter the news. He had torn his ACL.

"They said it's a minimum four-month process [to recover]," Carter said. "But for me to strengthen it and stuff it'll probably be six months. My coach and my parents think it's best that I stay out until next spring."

Carter currently has verbal offers from Alabama, Florida State, Michigan, Mississippi, Mississippi State, North Carolina, South Carolina, South Florida, Tennessee, Central Florida and Vanderbilt.

He played defensive end at Stone Mountain (Ga.) Stephenson as a sophomore, then transferred to South Gwinnett this summer. He is expected to be among the top players in Georgia in his class.

"I'm okay," Carter said. "I'm going to get through it and get that leg strong."

Keith Niebuhr can be reached at kneebs01@aol.com. You can follow him on Twitter @KeithRIVALS.