UNC Football Spring Transfer Portal Tracker (2024)

UNC landed needed reinforcement at defensive tackle on Sunday in the form of Joshua Harris, who announced his intention to join the Tar Heels through the transfer portal. He spent last season as a backup at Ole Miss after four seasons at NC State from 2019-22, and has played in 42 games across the course of his five-year college career.

"Thanks to all the opportunities but don't have much to say," Harris wrote Sunday in a social media post. "I'm coming home." He becomes the third former ACC player acquired by Carolina during the offseason portal cycle. UNC picked up defensive back Jakeen Harris from NC State and offensive lineman Jakiah Leftwich from Georgia Tech in the winter portal window.

Joshua Harris is a 6-foot-4, 325-pounder who grew up in Roxboro, N.C., and his addition addresses an area that has been a portal priority for coach Mack Brown and the Tar Heels, who finished their session of spring practices on Saturday. UNC counts Kevin Hester Jr., Jahvaree Ritzie and Travis Shaw as the only interior defensive linemen with college football game experience of consequence on its roster. Redshirt freshman Joel Starlings has had some promising moments this spring, but the Tar Heels certainly have been active shoppers in the free agent market to shore up things at defensive tackle.

Harris appeared in 13 games and contributed 13 tackles last season at Ole Miss, with a season-best four tackles during the Rebels' defeat of Texas A&M in November. He played in 12 games for NC State in 2022 and logged 192 snaps, while compiling 11 tackles, including three tackles for losses and one sack. That year, his Pro Football Focus (PFF) grade of 77.9 rated as the fourth-best mark by a defensive player with more than 100 snaps during the 2022 season.

Reserve quarterback Tad Hudson, the former four-star recruit who was one of the top-ranked Class of 2022 high school prospects in the state of North Carolina, spent one season in the UNC program as a true freshman in 2023, and didn't appear in a game. His departure impacts the Tar Heels' depth and leaves the team with three scholarship quarterbacks on the roster.

True freshman early enrollee Michael Merdinger has worked in as UNC's third-string quarterback behind Max Johnson and Conner Harrell during spring practices. True freshman walk-on DJ Mazzone is the only other quarterback on the roster.

Hudson compiled a 33-5 record as the starting quarterback at Hough High School in the Cornelius, N.C., area, a northern suburb of Charlotte. He threw for school records of 7,325 yards and 76 touchdowns during his high school career.

Reserve cornerback Lejond Cavazos suffered a knee injury in August early on during preseason training camp, and ultimately appeared in only one game last season due to injury, UNC's stomping of Syracuse in October.

Cavazos will be a fifth-year senior in the 2024 season, and projected to be stuck down the Tar Heels' depth chart. Marcus Allen, who's coming off a recent knee surgery, and playmaker Alijah Huzzie figure to be UNC's starters at cornerback next season, with 2022 starter DeAndre Boykins returning to the "star" or nickel position in the secondary. Boykins missed last season due to a torn knee ligament. Junior college transfer Tyrane Stewart and redshirt freshman Trę Miller have gotten significant work at cornerback during spring practices, too. Overall, the Tar Heels have restocked their secondary with transfer pickups Stewart and Jakeen Harris, and the addition of six true freshman defensive backs.

Cavazos, the former four-star recruit out of IMG Academy, spent the first two seasons of his college career at Ohio State in 2020 and 2021. He played in 11 games for Carolina during the 2022 season and made three starts, with those contributions including five tackles in UNC's loss to Clemson in the ACC championship game. He finished the 2022 season with 18 tackles and two pass breakups.

Reserve safety Ayden Duncanson is a redshirt freshman, who played in one game last season as a true freshman, UNC's blowout of Campbell in November. He made two tackles that day at Kenan Stadium.

"First off, I want to thank God for blessing me over the last year with the opportunity of attending and playing at UNC," Duncanson wrote in an April 11 post on social media. "My time at this university has been great. I want to thank Coach (Mack) Brown and Coach (Charlton) Warren for everything they have done for me. I also want to thank my teammates for making me feel like a brother, love always. With that being said, I plan to enter my name into the transfer portal as I look for a new home that fits me and my family the best."

In late December, Duncanson was listed as the backup to Stick Lane at a safety position ahead of Carolina's season-ending loss to West Virginia in the Duke's Mayo Bowl. But he didn't participate in that game. The Tar Heels have restocked their secondary for next season with transfer pickups Jakeen Harris and Tyrane Stewart, and the addition of six true freshman defensive backs. Duncanson, the former three-star recruit out of Atlanta, played quarterback and receiver when he wasn't on the defensive side the ball at Whitefield Academy, a prep school.

Reserve offensive lineman D.J. Geth informed coach Mack Brown and the Tar Heels of his intentions to enter the portal in March, prior to the start of the team's spring practice session. Geth spent one season in the Carolina program as a true freshman in 2023, and didn't appear in a game.

He's a former three-star recruit out of Spartanburg, S.C., and earned all-state honors for Dorman High School. He was a starter in the Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas in December 2022. His father, Ed, played basketball at UNC from 1992-96, includingteams that won the 1993 NCAA championship and reached the 1995 Final Four.