Former James Clemens standout Gio Lopez hits transfer portal, lands at Wake Forest

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The current college football transfer portal is lighting up big time in Chapel Hill, N.C. as the North Carolina Tar Heels have several references within the portal including its 2025 starting quarterback Gio Lopez of Madison who officially put his name in the transfer portal wanting to exit the North Carolina program after just one season. Lopez has landed at Atlantic Coast Conference-rival Wake Forest.

The 6-foot, 203-pound Lopez, a former James Clemens All-State signal caller, saw two other quarterbacks enter the portal and commit to the Tar Heels program led by legendry head coach Bill Belichick. Those making use of the portal and headed to North Carolina are Billy Edwards, a 6-3, 228-pound quarterback who played for Wisconsin in 2025, but saw limited playing time due to injury, and played for Maryland before his stay with the Badgers. In 28 games, he threw for 3,435 yards and 19 touchdowns with 13 additional scores by rushing the ball. Miles O’Neil, a two-year player at Texas A&M, also made the move to North Carolina and some feel his move came at the direction of Bobby Petrino who will be the offensive coordinator at North Carolina in 2026 and recruited O’Neill when the signal caller was in high school. O’Neil was a backup for the Aggies at Texas A&M.

Lopez started 11 games for the Tar Heels under Belichick and missed one game due to a lower leg injury. He passed for 1,757 yards and 10 touchdowns in the just completed season. He had transferred to North Carolina from South Alabama where he put on a superb performance in 2024 with over 2,500 yards and scoring 18 touchdowns off his passes while rushing for seven more TD’s.

In an interview with The Madison Record in 2025, Lopez said, “My best asset is being a leader for the team, plus I feel I’m good at correcting broken down plays and keep moving the chains. As for school, I love the laid-back life, and I’m very comfortable here at North Carolina.”

Lopez apparently made the move due to the two new quarterbacks already committed to being new players among the North Carolina roster. He joins the Demon Deacons who beat the Tar Heels in their matchup in 2025, but will not play one another in 2026 due to the ACC transferring into a nine-game scheduling model in conference play. The 80-mile trip west to Winston-Salem will put Lopez with the team which was 9-4 overall in 2025 and 4-4 in conference play.