North Carolina QB transfer Bryce Baker has committed to Virginia Tech out of the NCAA transfer portal. Baker was a freshman at UNC this past season and didn’t see any action for the Tar Heels.

Before arriving in Chapel Hill, Baker played high school football at East Forsyth (NC), where he was a four-star prospect. He was the No. 87 overall player and No. 9 QB in the 2025 recruiting cycle, according to the Rivals Industry Rankings which is a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services.

During his senior season in high school, Baker threw for 3,523 yards and 40 touchdowns, while only throwing five interceptions. Moreover, he logged 303 yards and six scores in the ground game.

North Carolina finished at No. 8 in On3’s 2025 Team Transfer Portal Rankings after losing 41 players to it while adding 42. The team will look to have another successful offseason in the upcoming year, but hope for a better outcome on the field.

Meanwhile, Baker will transfer across the ACC to play for James Franklin at Virginia Tech. Franklin arrived in Blacksburg after a successful stint at Penn State, where he’s one year removed from leading the Nittany Lions to a national semifinal.

Franklin now replaces Brent Pry, who worked under Franklin with the Nittany Lions from 2016-21 as the defensive coordinator. Pry was 16-24 as Virginia Tech’s head coach, but was fired after an 0-3 start this season. Pry now works under Franklin and will be the team’s defensive coordinator for the 2026 season.

Franklin will look to turn the program around in short order, and doing well in the NCAA transfer portal is the first step. Could they have possibly found their QB1 in Bryce Baker? For now, that remains to be seen.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.

A Virginia man was sentenced to 10 years in prison Friday – far less than the life sentence he faced at trial last year – for the death of a 14-year-old boy.

Ismael Cruz-Delcid was 18 when he shot and killed Michai Malave in a hotel parking lot in Herndon in March 2024.

Michai was shot after he got off the school bus with a friend. The shooter left the scene and hid the gun but turned himself in the next day.

Prosecutors asked a jury to find Cruz-Delcid guilty of first-degree murder. Michai’s family wanted Cruz-Delcid sentenced to life in prison.

During last year’s trial, Cruz-Delcid’s defense attorney told a jury his client believed Michai was affiliated with a gang. Cruz-Delcid was in his car alone that day and, according to testimony, when Michai and a friend got off of the school bus, Cruz-Delcid got out of his car and confronted Michai. A fight quickly ended with gunfire.

Cruz-Delcid argued he shot Michai in self-defense. Michai was unarmed.

That trial ultimately ended with a hung jury. Prosecutors intended to retry the case but told the court Friday they had a witness who wouldn’t be able to testify at the trial, so prosecutors and the family felt it would be too risky to move forward without that witness.

“We kinda had to get ahead of it and offer this deal,” said Michai’s mother, Jenna Malave. “I wasn’t happy about it, but there was no part of me that can sit in a courtroom, and they have to drop the charges.”

Cruz-Delcid got a plea agreement and 10 years, instead.

“Well, Ismael should be facing life, we all know that, but I’ve made peace with it,” Malave said.

Michai’s father testified Friday at sentencing, telling the court his son was his best friend and that he will never be the same again.

Michai’s mother told the court that while she’s made peace with the result of the case, forgiveness is not part of the narrative today.

“I’m just ready for me and my daughter to be able to move on and try to heal without getting that Band-Aid ripped off again every few months,” she said.

CAROLINE COUNTY, Va. — A sprawling pasture in Caroline County where racing legend Secretariat once grazed as a young colt will be protected from development forever, thanks to a farmer’s dedication to preserving Virginia’s equine heritage.

Kevin Engel, who owns Engel Family Farms, has placed The Cove in Doswell under a permanent conservation easement with the Capital Region Land Conservancy. The 350-acre property, which includes forestland adjacent to Secretariat’s birthplace at the State Fairgrounds, will remain agricultural land in perpetuity.

“This is part of our family. Part of the history of the state. Part of the history of this country,” Engel said.

The Cove holds special significance as the place where the future Triple Crown champion Secretariat first stretched his legs before his legendary 1973 racing season. Leeanne Ladin with Secretariat for Virginia, an authority on the famous thoroughbred, confirmed the historical importance of the site.

“You can feel the history. That is where Secretariat grazed and played as a young colt,” Ladin said. “There has still never been quite anything like it.”

Engel began farming at The Cove in 1982 and developed a friendship with Secretariat’s trailblazing owner, the late Penny Chenery. In 2023, his family purchased the property to ensure its preservation.

“That was the time where I just wanted to come out by myself and look and say wow we finally got it done and give thanks for that,” Engel said.

The conservation easement means no solar farms, subdivisions or data centers can ever be built where Secretariat once played.

Parker Agelasto with the Capital Region Land Conservancy praised Engel’s vision, noting the timing is crucial as Central Virginia faces rapid development pressure.

“Central Virginia in the last few years has been the fastest growing region of the whole state. We have seen some of our individual counties being the fastest growing in the nation,” Agelasto said.

The property has been an active farm for hundreds of years, making its preservation even more significant for Virginia’s agricultural heritage.

“Where we are is remarkable for its history because it has been an active farm property for hundreds of years,” Agelasto said.

For Engel, protecting The Cove represents something more valuable than potential development profits.

“Money is not everything. It helps, but I want to build something that goes way beyond me,” Engel said. “I want something that sticks around forever.”

The farmer, who describes himself as a Secretariat devotee, was instrumental in bringing a bronze statue of the champion to Ashland in 2024. Now he can ensure future generations will experience the same pastoral landscape that shaped America’s greatest racehorse.

“There are only 50 states in this country, but there is only one state that Secretariat came from. This is it! And this is the spot,” Engel said. “We need to keep this around forever.”

Ladin expressed relief knowing this piece of racing history will be protected.

“It is such a wonderful thing that he and his family did because that really is preserving a special piece of Meadow history and Virginia history absolutely,” Ladin said.

The Cove at Meadow Farm in Caroline County now stands as a permanent testament to Virginia’s equine legacy, where visitors can walk the same fields where a legend once roamed.

“Every piece of land has a story to tell, but you have to let it tell the story. And in this instance, this land is forever connected to Secretariat,” Agelasto said.

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