Heel Tough Blog: Tar Heels Lose Former 4✮ DL to Portal

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The Tar Heels just continue to lose guys to the portal and they have now lost their first interior defensive lineman to the spring portal.

According to multiple reports, the Tar Heels have lost sophomore defensive tackle Joel Starlings to the transfer portal following the official opening of the portal earlier today. He will have three years of eligibility remaining at the school that he eventually lands at.

Starlings, a former 4✮ prospect in the 2023 class, played in six games in his Tar Heel career, five of which came this season. In his true freshman season he played just one snap, which came in the game against Campbell. This past season, he played 30 snaps on defense and five on special teams over the course of five games and collected just one total tackle. Even in the bowl game, where he was expected to play a bigger role with all of the opt outs, he played just eight snaps. Unfortunately for Starlings, he didn’t seem to make much progress this spring in terms of climbing into a starting spot leading to this entry into the portal.

With his entry, an already thin position group for this Tar Heel team becomes even thinner. At this point, the team needs to add at least two bodies to this room, preferably ones that can contribute at a high rate this season.