Just days after Wingate football was ousted from the Division II playoffs in heartbreaking fashion, multiple key Bulldogs have announced plans to enter the NCAA transfer portal. Wide receiver Jaylen Himes, linebackers Ryan Green and David Squires and punter Rivers Teeter have posted their intentions to transfer on social media this week.
Himes, a freshman from Statesville and one of the most explosive receivers in North Carolina college football this season, headlines the group, as report by On3 Sports. He caught 66 passes for 1,174 yards and 11 touchdowns, pairing with 1,000-yard rusher Xavier Pugh to power one of the state’s most balanced attacks.
Himes delivered four straight 100-yard games to close the regular season, then burned Benedict for 138 yards and two first-half scores in last weekend’s playoff opener. His breakout began early with a nine-catch, 113-yard performance at UVA Wise in September, and he remained a consistent deep threat all year.
Green, Wingate’s top tackler this fall, finished with a team-best 84 stops along with five tackles for loss and a fumble recovery. Across three seasons he totaled 144 tackles, nine TFLs and three fumble recoveries in 30 games.
Squires, a fellow redshirt junior, added 43 tackles this season and owns 98 for his career after finishing fourth on the team in stops. Teeter, the Bulldogs’ primary punter for most of the past three years, averaged 40.2 yards per punt in 2025 and has logged 97 career attempts with 14 traveling 50 yards or more.
More North Carolina D2 football portal news
Beyond Wingate, two Fayetteville State standouts have also entered the portal in the past few days. The Broncos’ season finished Nov. 15. Keyshawn Monk, a first-team all-conference defensive back, posted 46 tackles, three interceptions and two blocked kicks this season while anchoring the Broncos’ secondary. Running back Bryce Council added his name after his most productive year, rushing for 587 yards and five touchdowns. He tallied 1,100 rushing yards and 294 receiving yards from 2022-25.
Elsewhere, Catawba quarterback Hunter Sheppard has entered the portal after appearing in five games in 2024 and throwing for 371 yards and one score.
The Division II portal is already loaded with elite North Carolina talent, including three conference defensive players of the year (Livingstone’s Kenyon Garner, Barton’s Keno Jones and UNC Pembroke’s Isi Etute), one of the state’s top quarterbacks (Winston-Salem State’s Daylin Lee) and an All-American wideout (Johnson C. Smith’s Brevin Caldwell), among others.
Defensive lineman Kaydin Thomas, a transfer from Fayetteville State, reports nine Division I offers on his social media since entering the portal a few weeks ago. Thomas, a 6-5, 261-pounder who played at Apex Friendship High, recorded seven tackles-for-loss and six sacks this past season for the Broncos.
Thomas reports offers from FCS schools Campbell, North Carolina A&T, Tennessee State, North Alabama, Central Arkansas, Monmouth, Prairie View A&M, Texas-Rio Grande Valley and Western Illinois.
TRACKING NORTH CAROLINA D2 PORTAL: Keep up with players from our state who have announced transfer intentions with our North Carolina D2 Transfer Portal Tracker.
