Miami, FL
ACC football transfers: Dynamic QBs at Florida State, Miami among players ready to make a splash in 2024
Like the other Power Four conferences, the ACC is expanding in 2024 with the addition of Cal, SMU and Stanford. However, that’s not the only offseason development that will change the complexion of the league. Strong transfer classes — headlined by a group of high-profile quarterbacks — have a chance to shake up the conference hierarchy entering the first year of the expanded College Football Playoff.
Florida State and Miami brought in transfer hauls ranked in the top 10, according to 247Sports. On the other end of the spectrum, Clemson was the only non-service academy FBS program that didn’t add a single transfer.
FSU landed former Clemson and Oregon State signal caller DJ Uiagalelei, while Miami also went out West to grab Cameron Ward from Washington State. Both players have one season of eligibility left to raise their stock ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft.
Sticking to the quarterback theme, NC State brought in ex-Coastal Carolina standout Grayson McCall. McCall missed most of last year with a head injury but threw for at least 24 touchdowns in each of his first three seasons.
Syracuse and Duke also landed big-name transfer quarterbacks in Kyle McCord (Ohio State) and Maalik Murphy (Texas). Here are some players poised to make an immediate impact this season in the ACC.
Miami QB Cameron Ward
Ward’s journey to South Beach was a roller coaster. Ward entered the transfer portal at the end the 2023 season, then declared for the 2024 NFL Draft and finally recended his draft declaration to commit to Miami. It was a huge win for Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal, who is under immense pressure to win in Year 3. Ward was the No. 15 overall player and the No. 4 quarterback available in the portal. He’s also the highest-ranked player to transfer to an ACC school.
Ward lit up defenses to start 2023 but hit a wall as the season wore on. After throwing for 1,393 yards with 16 touchdowns and zero interceptions in his first four games, he completed only 63.3% of his attempts for 2,342 yards with 17 total touchdowns and seven interceptions in his final eight contests. Ward already has NFL upside thanks to his dynamic dual-threat ability. If he can find more consistency, he could significantly boost his draft stock in 2024.
Florida State QB DJ Uiagalelei
ACC fans are already familiar with Uiagalelei. He started his career at Clemson, but his time with the Tigers came to an end after he was benched in favor of Cade Klubnik. He took his talents to Oregon State last year and helped guide the Beavers to an 8-5 mark. Uiagalelei will now don the uniform of a former conference rival, where he hopes to fill the shoes of the departing Jordan Travis.
In 2023 Uiagalelei threw for a career-high 2,638 yards but finished with a career-low completion percentage of 571.%. A former five-star recruit, Florida State is hoping this is the year DJU finally puts it all together and cashes in on his massive potential. With FSU losing receivers Johnny Wilson and Keon Coleman to the NFL, it will be up to former highly-touted recruit Hykeem Williams and Alabama transfer Malik Benson to emerge as reliable targets for Uiagalelei
Duke QB Maalik Murphy
Murphy is a former four-star recruit who made two starts at Texas last season. With Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers returning and Arch Manning waiting in the wings, Murphy saw the writing on the wall and elected to hit the portal after the season concluded. He found a landing spot at Duke, where he projects as the sure-fire starter in Year 1 of the Manny Diaz era. It’s up to Blue Devils offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Jonathan Brewer to refine Murphy’s skills and take advantage of his stellar arm talent. Murphy was the No. 6 quarterback available in the transfer portal.
Syracuse QB Kyle McCord
New Syracuse coach Fran Brown made a splash when he landed McCord from Ohio State. The former OSU starter had an up-and-down campaign in the post-CJ. Stroud era and finished with 3,170 yards, 24 touchdowns and only six interceptions in 2023. While McCord’s stats indicated proficient play, he was often plagued by slow starts.
Despite Syracuse bringing in former FAU and Penn State quarterback Michael Johnson Jr. late in the cycle, McCord is expected to be the starter in 2024. It will be interesting to see if the former four-star recruit will flourish away from the glaring spotlight that came with playing quarterback for the Buckeyes. McCord was the No. 14 quarterback available in the transfer portal.
USATSI
NC State QB Grayson McCall
NC State landed former Virginia starting quarterback Brennan Armstrong in the transfer portal last offseason, but it didn’t go as planned. Armstrong finished with 1,785 yards with 11 touchdowns and 11 interceptions and was benched midway through the season in favor of MJ Morris.
When he’s at his best, McCall is one of the best quarterbacks in the country. He recorded three consecutive seasons with at least 2,400 passing yards, 24 touchdowns and less than three interceptions from 2020-22. If he can rebound from a brutal 2023 injury, NC State will be in business. McCall was the No. 20 quarterback available in the transfer portal.
Top transfers for remaining ACC teams
Boston College RB Treshaun Ward: New Boston College coach Bill O’Brien found a veteran playmaker in Ward, who rushed for 643 yards and five touchdowns while splitting carries at Kansas State last season. He’ll have a chance to take on an expanded role in the BC offense this fall.
Cal CB Marcus Harris: After spending his first two seasons at Oregon State, Harris transferred to FCS-Idaho where he appeared in 40 games over the last three years. He was a first-team All-Big Sky selection in 2023 after racking up 51 tackles with three interceptions. Harris ranked as the No. 36 overall player in the transfer portal and will give the Bears a boost in their secondary ahead of the transition to the ACC.
Clemson N/A: Clemson was one of four FBS programs that didn’t take in a single transfer this cycle. The Tigers will rely on their 2024 recruiting class (ranked No. 15) for immediate contributions.
Georgia Tech EDGE Romello Height: Height started his career at Auburn and appeared in 10 contests before transferring to USC. After suffering a season-ending injury just two games into the 2022 season, he bounced back by recording 20 tackles and four sacks last year.
Louisville WR Ja’Corey Brooks: The former Alabama standout will be looking for a bounce-back season in a new location after recording only three catches for 30 yards last fall. Brooks had his best season in 2022, finishing with 39 catches for 674 yards and eight touchdowns.
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North Carolina TE Jake Johnson: UNC got a two-for-one by landing both Jake and Max Johnson from Texas A&M. While the latter will be in a quarterback competition to replace former star Drake Maye, Max should be an immediate contributor at tight end. He finished with 24 catches for 235 yards and four touchdowns as a sophomore with the Aggies.
Pitt EDGE David Ojiegbe: The former four-star prospect transferred to Pitt after spending his true freshman season at Clemson. Ojiegbe played only 11 total snaps and will have four seasons of eligibility remaining. He was Pitt’s highest-ranked transfer.
SMU OT Savion Byrd: It’s rare for quality offensive linemen to hit the transfer portal. SMU was able to snag one of the top available players at the position in Byrd, who ranked as the No. 6 player at his position. Byrd spent the last three seasons at Oklahoma and appeared in nine games (with four starts) in 2023.
Stanford LB Jahsiah Galvan: Stanford landed one of the top linebackers in the FCS in Galvan. He appeared in all 11 games in 2023 and led Northern Iowa with 77 tackles. The Cardinal only accepted four transfers this year — due in large part to the university’s strict academic standards — but all have a chance of helping the team.
Virginia WR Chris Tyree: Tyree showed off his versatility across his four seasons at Notre Dame by putting up numbers as a running back, wide receiver, or returner. He is coming off a career-high in receiving yards (484).
Virginia Tech DL Aeneas Peebles: Peebles recorded a career-high in tackles (44) and sacks (five) last season at Duke. He ranked as the No. 21 transfer defensive lineman and should give VT’s defense a boost as a pass rusher and run stopper.
Wake Forest QB Hank Bachmeier: Bachmeier threw for 2,058 yards and 10 touchdowns in his lone season with Louisiana Tech last year. The former Boise State signal caller should be in the running to win the starting job at Wake Forest after throwing for more than 300 yards in the Demon Deacons’ spring game.
Miami, FL
Jaylen Brown bidding war? Haslem drove this? All the fallout from Antetokounmpo trade to Miami
It was the blockbuster deal of the NBA offseason: After years of will-he/won’t-he, two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo has been traded to Miami.
It also feels like the first domino of what will be some other big moves — including possibly a Jaylen Brown bidding war and trade. At NBC, we’ve explained the Antetokounmpo trade, named its winners and losers, and broken down how it will impact fantasy teams. Still, the fallout from this trade just keeps coming. Here are some other notes and analysis surrounding Antetokounmpo’s move to Miami.
Jaylen Brown bidding war?
Boston tried to say, “We weren’t shopping Brown, it was only because this was Giannis Antetokounmpo.” Except a few years back, they said the same thing when Brown was rumored to be part of a trade offer for Kevin Durant. From Brown’s perspective, you don’t want to be the person in the relationship where your partner is always looking around for an upgrade.
Other teams are expecting Boston to make Brown available, and there could be a bidding war, something articulated well by ESPN’s Brian Windhorst on the network’s “Get Up.”
“What I expect to happenis a bidding war for Jaylen Brown. In the most recent days, teams have been preparing for this eventuality, that it wouldn’t be the Boston Celtics who won the Giannis sweepstakes and that there would be a Jaylen Brown market. And now we’re going to watch that. I think it’ll take time to play out.”
If Brown becomes available, look for Houston and Atlanta to be at the front of the line for him, with a number of other teams — Portland has said it’s interested — in the mix. The challenge will be matching his salary, which is $57.1 million next season and totals about $183 million over the next three years. Brown is coming off his best season as a pro, averaging 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game.
Boston kept young players out
Why did Milwaukee ultimately choose the Miami offer over Boston? In part because, while Brown would have been the best individual player the Bucks could have gotten in return, they wanted more — specifically a young player like Baylor Scheierman and Hugo Gonzalez, and Boston would not put them in the offer, reports Shams Charania of ESPN.
Boston’s final offer was Brown and two unprotected first-round picks. Milwaukee preferred Miami’s offer… or at least one key person did.
Bucks co-owner Haslam pushed for Miami trade
Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Jimmy Haslam also owns the NFL’s Cleveland Browns — a team that dealt with a trade demand from future Hall of Famer Myles Garrett. Then came the Antetokounmpo saga with the Bucks.
That led Haslam to push for the “certainty” of the Miami offer because he didn’t want to see Brown come to Milwaukee and force his way out in a couple of years, something Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports reported right after the trade went down.
Report: Haslam a ‘driving force’ in Giannis trade
Mike Florio looks at Jimmy Haslam’s reported role in the blockbuster Giannis Antetokounmpo trade and analyzes Haslam’s involvement as owner of the Cleveland Browns.
That was a concern of others in the Milwaukee front office, reports Sam Amick and Eric Nehm at The Athletic, who add there had been signs in recent weeks that Brown didn’t really want to land in Milwaukee.
Herro happy
Brown may not have wanted to go to Milwaukee, but Tyler Herro — who is a Milwaukee native — is excited to go home in the trade, reports NBA insider Chris Haynes.
Sources: Tyler Herro is thrilled about a fresh start and playing for his hometown team the Milwaukee Bucks. Herro always envisioned returning home at some point during his NBA career.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) June 23, 2026
Except Herro may not be staying in Milwaukee—there are multiple reports that the Bucks are listening to offers to trade him again. At the front of that line may be Detroit, which is looking for shooting and secondary ball-handling to pair with Cade Cunningham, and Herro fits that bill.
Is Anthony Edwards next?
Once one superstar is traded, the insatiable NBA trade rumor machine starts looking for the next star who might be on the move.
Is it about to be Anthony Edwards’ turn in the spotlight? ESPN’s Tim MacMahon said on the latest Hoop Collective Podcast, “The NBA vultures are swirling around Ant in anticipation of him potentially becoming the next superstar who’s available in the trade market.” Multiple reports in recent years have said Edwards has been frustrated with the team building in Minnesota, dating back to when it traded away Karl-Anthony Towns to save money.
This is not happening fast. Minnesota has no intention of trading Edwards right now, and he still has three fully guaranteed years at $156.9 million left on this contract. There is no pressure to move him, and Edwards would deny he is even thinking about leaving.
That said, teams file these kinds of things away and just wait.
Miami, FL
Fiery, fatal crash shuts down southbound lanes of Don Shula Expressway in southwest Miami-Dade
An investigation is underway after a man was killed in a fiery crash with a truck on the Don Shula Expressway in southwest Miami-Dade early Tuesday morning, according to officials.
The Florida Highway Patrol said that a white Mercedes coupe was headed south on SR 847 (Don Shula Expressway), near Southwest 104th Street when it crashed into the back of a truck.
A large fire broke out after the crash, and investigators said that the driver of the Mercedes, who was only identified as an adult Hispanic male, died at the scene.
The fiery crash forced officials to shut down the southbound lanes of the roadway, and drivers were being asked to seek an alternate route.
Heavy delays were reported behind the crash, and delays also started to build in the northbound lanes near the scene.
The southbound lanes have since reopened.
No other information was released.
Miami, FL
Miami Heat slip behind Boston Celtics in Giannis Antetokounmpo race
The Miami Heat woke up Monday no longer in control of the chase they had led for weeks. With the 2026 NBA Draft set for Tuesday and the Milwaukee Bucks closing in on a resolution to the Giannis Antetokounmpo saga, Miami suddenly finds itself in a two-team race it is no longer favored to win.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Monday that Antetokounmpo is expected to be moved before the draft, with the Heat and Boston Celtics emerging as the two finalists. The Bucks have narrowed their talks to those clubs, sources told Charania, and are weighing two dramatically different packages for the former two-time MVP.
For a fan base that spent the better part of a month believing Miami was the team to beat, the shift landed hard. The Heat are still in it. They are simply no longer the favorite.
A two-team race with a Tuesday deadline
Milwaukee set the timeline itself. Bucks ownership signaled in May that it wanted Antetokounmpo’s future settled by the start of the draft, and Charania reported Monday on ESPN’s “Get Up” that a trade is expected to land in line with that cutoff.
Charania framed the two bids as opposites. One is built around an established star, the other around youth and draft capital, and he described the negotiations bluntly.
“These conversations have been a blood bath,” Charania said.
He also stressed that whatever happens, it will not balloon into a multi-team construction the way other blockbusters have. Whether the deal closes Monday or Tuesday, Charania said, it is expected to be a one-to-one trade between Milwaukee and one of the two finalists, with no third team folded in. That detail matters for Miami, because it removes one of the lifelines the Heat had been counting on.
Boston changed the math with Jaylen Brown
For most of the buildup, Miami held the perceived edge because the Celtics were reluctant to part with Jaylen Brown. That changed over the weekend. The Stein Line’s Marc Stein reported Monday that Boston emerged “with a real shot” to win the race built around a Brown-centric offer, with Milwaukee willing to consider a swap even without a third team to absorb his contract.
That is the development that flipped the race. Brown is a five-time All-Star and a former NBA Finals MVP coming off the best statistical season of his career, having averaged a career-high 28.7 points per game as Boston’s centerpiece. He is also a bona fide star Milwaukee can plug in immediately, which speaks directly to ownership’s stated preference to get a recognizable face back rather than a stack of prospects.
The money works, too. A Brown-for-Antetokounmpo framework lines up cleanly under the salary cap, and from Milwaukee’s vantage point, flipping one star for another carries better optics than entering a full teardown empty-handed.
Prediction markets moved with the news. Per Kalshi data, Miami’s implied odds slid from the low 60s into the mid-30s on Monday while Boston vaulted toward roughly 70 percent. Those figures shift by the hour and should be read as a temperature check rather than a forecast, but the direction of the swing is the story.
What Miami is putting on the table
The Heat’s pitch leans on volume and flexibility rather than star power. Reported frameworks have centered on Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Nikola Jovic, with Kasparas Jakucionis and multiple future first-round picks also in the mix, and Miami holds the No. 13 overall pick in Tuesday’s draft.
It is a thoughtful offer for a rebuilding team. It is also, by definition, not a star, and that is the gap Boston is now exploiting.
There is a limit to how far Miami is willing to go. Bam Adebayo is the only player truly untouchable in the Heat’s discussions, and Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald reported that the front office does not want to strip the roster and its draft capital down to the studs to get a deal done. That restraint is understandable given the franchise’s history of swinging big and missing, most painfully on Damian Lillard three years ago, but it also means Miami may be unwilling to match a price Boston now appears ready to meet.
The case for the Heat to lose this race
There is a real argument, voiced by some of the league’s most prominent analysts, that Miami should be careful what it wishes for. Zach Lowe and Bill Simmons both cautioned against the Heat gutting their young core for an aging star, with Lowe warning that the long-term cost could hollow out the roster.
“The concerns I think are very real for Miami,” Lowe said.
The basketball context behind that caution is hard to ignore. Antetokounmpo is 31 and coming off the most injury-plagued season of his career, appearing in just 36 games amid groin, calf and knee issues while the Bucks finished 32-50 and missed the playoffs, snapping a run of nine straight postseason appearances.
He still produced when available, averaging 27.6 points, 9.8 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game, but his looming free agency in 2027 is depressing his trade value across the league. For a Heat team that went 43-39 and has been hunting a co-star for Adebayo since dealing Jimmy Butler to the Golden State Warriors, the math of trading a future for a 31-year-old’s prime window is genuinely fraught.
What happens next
The next 24 hours should decide it. Milwaukee has telegraphed the draft as its internal deadline, and the expectation is a resolution before Tuesday night, though multiple insiders have noted the saga could still spill into free agency if the Bucks decide their leverage is better served by waiting.
For Miami, the stakes are stark. Landing Antetokounmpo would end years of frustrated superstar pursuits and reset the franchise’s ceiling overnight. Losing him to Boston, again on the doorstep of a deal, would sting in a way Heat fans know all too well. Either outcome arrives soon, and for the first time in this chase, the Heat are watching it unfold without holding the best hand.
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