This has been a wild day of transfer portal entries around Tar Heel football with three players entering the portal before 2:00 the day after falling in the ACC title game. That number has grown to four this evening, as a second defensive back entered.
Just a short time ago, senior cornerback Ladaeson DeAndre Hollins announced via social media that he will be entering the transfer portal for his final season of eligibility. He played the fewest snaps of his career this season, playing just 151 snaps total, just 12 of which came on the defensive side of the football. In his five seasons with the team, Hollins played 1,025 snaps, 666 of which came on the defensive side of the football. He finishes his Tar Heel career with 39 total tackles, one interception and six pass breakups.
This loss is one that had to be expected with just how much his role had been cut since the 2020 season. As of right now, this Tar Heel cornerback room is still in great shape. Season-long starters Storm Duck, Tony Grimes and DeAndre Boykins have to option to return next season, as do rotational pieces like sophomore Lejond Cavazos and true freshman Marcus Allen, who got the start last night and played pretty well all things considered. There is plenty of deeper depth behind them still with Dontae Balfour, Tymir Brown, Obi Egbuna and Tayon Halloway all with the chance to return. They will also bring in three corners in this early signing class that will help add to the depth.
Today has been a crazy day with just how many guys have entered their names into the portal, but the good news is that the team has yet to lose a starter. Don’t get me wrong, losing depth, especially defensively, hurts considering that’s an area that still has work to do depthwise, but outside of RaRa Dillworth, no one that has departed today played more than 30 snaps this season outside of special teams. The bad news is that the night is not over.