The Indianapolis Colts announced on March 17 that they have signed Carson Towt, a former collegiate basketball player, as an undrafted free agent tight end. Towt joins the team after completing his final season with Notre Dame’s basketball program earlier in March.
Towt’s transition from basketball to football is notable because he has never played a snap of college football. He now joins Mo Alie-Cox, another Colts tight end who made a similar switch from college basketball to the National Football League. “We kind of knew the beginning of my basketball season that we were going to explore this,” Towt said Tuesday after signing with the Colts. “It’s been quite the journey and man, it’s just getting started. So I’m excited to see where we can all go.”
Towt played high school basketball and did not consider football until he reached his current size of 6-foot-7 and 250 pounds. He attended Northern Arizona University from 2019 to 2025 before transferring to Notre Dame for the 2025-26 season. During his collegiate career, he started in nearly every game and averaged nine points and almost nine rebounds per game. In his last season at Northern Arizona, he led the country in total rebounds and defensive rebounds per game.
As his college basketball career ended, Towt began considering a move to football. “I’ve had the itch to play football pretty much all through college,” Towt explained. “It’s kind of worked out where my basketball career has come to an end in college, and it’s perfect timing to kind of segue into this transition.” He added that his physical abilities on the court gave him confidence for a potential NFL career: “I think this sport honors those gifts…I pride myself on dirty work and rebounding and being physical. So I think football almost honors those a little bit better than basketball does.”
To prepare for this new path, Towt researched agents who could help him make the transition and attended the NFL Combine in 2025 to meet with teams. He also reached out directly to Alie-Cox for advice about making such a switch without prior college football experience. “You hear the stories and you think maybe he’s in a different position – no, like he actually had to start from square one too,” Towt said about Alie-Cox.
Towt expressed excitement about joining an organization with coaches experienced in developing players like himself: “To be in this building with that caliber of a dude, and these caliber of coaches who have done it, is a blessing. And I’m aware of that and excited to be a part of it.”
