Heel Tough Blog: Freshman Edge Rusher Enters the Portal

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The transfer portal officially opened on Friday and the Tar Heels came into the day expecting 25 players from this year’s roster to enter. On Friday evening, a new player entered his name into the portal extending that number to 26 departures and freeing up another roster for the team in the portal.

As first reported by Inside Carolina, true freshman linebacker Austin Alexander has entered his name into the transfer portal after just one season in Chapel Hill. He will have three years of eligibility remaining wherever he lands.

Alexander, a former 4✮ prospect in the 2025 class, will depart the program after playing in ten games as a freshman. He played 41 special teams snaps across those ten games and saw his only defensive snaps (11) in the game against Richmond. He finished the season with three total tackles.

His departure is another blow to the depth at an edge rusher position that has been ravaged by the portal so far. The team is scheduled to lose Alexander, Tyler Thompson and Chinedu Onyeagoro alongside Smith Vilbert who departs as a graduate. That leaves the room with just four holdovers that remain on the roster and while they may be adding Zavion Griffin-Haynes and Ashton Blatt from the high school ranks, this is a position that needs to be prioritized in the portal.