Aug. 10, 2003

Charleston, SC - Former Duke free safety Anthony Roberts has joined The Citadel's football team as a graduate-student transfer and will help bolster a thin secondary, coach Ellis Johnson said Saturday.

Roberts, 6-3 and 199 pounds, played three seasons at Duke and redshirted in 1999, leaving him one season of eligibility. He's earned his degree and will play one year for the Bulldogs as a grad student, the same way quarterback Jeff Klein did last season.

With depth a concern in the secondary, especially at cornerback, Roberts' addition is a welcome one, Johnson said.

"I think he's into the two-deep on the depth chart immediately," Johnson said. "He's way behind as far as scheme and terminology and all that. He's busting a lot of assignments back there right now, because he hasn't heard a lot of this stuff before.

"But I think, ability-wise, he falls right into our two-deep and will be challenging to start. And I really like that; he's brought some competition back there."

Roberts, who is from Henrico, N.C., played in 10 games last year at Duke, making 10 tackles, forcing two fumbles and recovering one.

In 2001, he intercepted a pass against Wake Forest and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown.

-- The Bulldogs are slated to put on pads for the first time in this afternoon's practice, and begin two-a-days on Monday.

"The players have been exposed to a lot and they are picking up a lot of things in our system," Johnson said of the first week of practice, when the Dogs could only work out once a day.