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Max Olson, ESPN Staff Writer
UConn defensive lineman Pryce Yates signed with North Carolina on Tuesday, sources told ESPN, joining the Tar Heels’ growing transfer portal class under new coach Bill Belichick.
Yates will join the Tar Heels next season after shining against them in the Fenway Bowl, recording a sack and three tackles for loss to earn defensive MVP honors after UConn’s 27-14 victory. Now he’s switching sides to finish his career in the ACC.
Yates, a redshirt junior from San Antonio, Texas, initially entered the portal on Dec. 13 before withdrawing eight days later and announcing on social media he intended to return for the 2025 season. Following his bowl game performance, Yates reentered the portal on Dec. 30.
Hours before Yates put his name back in the portal, UConn coach Jim Mora posted on X that he planned to “pursue all avenues” against teams that tamper with his players and recruit them off the Huskies’ roster.
“A simple note to the schools and coaches that have blatantly broken @NCAAFootball rules by tampering with our players in the last 24 hours,” Mora wrote on X. “We do know who you are, we will pursue all avenues to hold you accountable. We are excited that we’ve built a program where coaches have to cheat to beat us and we will protect that program. Think hard before you tamper with our players.”
Mora later added that he doesn’t know how to fix the tampering issue in college football, but that “we will expose any program and coach that violates” NCAA rules. He added: “I’m 100 percent against grown men cheating the rules and teaching players horrible life lessons.”
Yates appeared in just seven games due to injury but recorded 21 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks for the Huskies during a 9-4 season, the program’s most wins since 2007.
North Carolina has now picked up commitments from 13 transfers since the six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach took over the program on Dec. 11.