Bill Belichick has been active in the transfer portal ahead of his first season at North Carolina. (Photo by Peyton Williams/Getty Images)
(Peyton Williams via Getty Images)
Bill Belichick has landed one of Deion Sanders’ top 2025 recruits.
It’s a sentence that may not seem real, but it’s what happened on Thursday when Adrian Wilson told On3 that he was transferring to North Carolina. Wilson was one of the best players in Colorado’s 2025 recruiting class but entered the transfer portal on Wednesday after spring practice.
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It’s a massive get for the former New England Patriots coach as he looks to remake the North Carolina roster ahead of his first season in Chapel Hill. Wilson was a four-star recruit out of high school and ranked as the No. 32 wide receiver in the class of 2025.
Wilson signed with Colorado in the December early signing period and enrolled early with the Buffaloes. The Texas native had previously been a verbal commit to Arizona State.
Wilson was not recruited by North Carolina and previous coach Mack Brown out of high school. But North Carolina has remade its football program under Belichick and has been active in the transfer portal.
The Tar Heels got a commitment from former Nebraska and Missouri linebacker Mikai Gbayor earlier this week and have also landed three former Washington defenders in LB Khmori House, CB Thaddeus Dixon and S Peyton Waters. All three played for UNC defensive coordinator Steve Belichick last year when the younger Belichick ran the Huskies defense a season ago.
North Carolina is also widely expected to land a quarterback in the spring transfer portal and is seen as the favorite for South Alabama’s Gio Lopez. Jacolby Criswell started the majority of games for the Tar Heels in 2024 but he’s now at East Tennessee State and backup Conner Harrell is at Charlotte. Ryan Browne transferred from Purdue in the offseason but entered the portal himself this week.