North Carolina defensive back Malcolm Ziglar plans to enter NCAA Transfer Portal

North Carolina defensive back Malcolm Ziglar is planning to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal, per On3’s Pete Nakos. He’s spent the past two seasons in Chapel Hill.

Over that time, Ziglar has seen the field sparingly. All in all, the defender has amassed 12 total tackles and one interception over the course of the 2024 and 2025 seasons.

Ziglar played high school football at Fuquay-Varina (Fuquay Varina, NC), where he was a four-star prospect. He was the No. 163 overall recruit in the 2024 cycle, according to the Rivals Industry Ranking, a weighted algorithm that complies all major recruiting media services.

Wherever Ziglar ends up in 2026, he’ll be hoping to carve out a more sizable role on defense. He’ll have his suitors, and whichever team he chooses will be thankful he does so.

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.

More on the NCAA Transfer Portal, updated rules for 2025-26

Meanwhile, the NCAA Division I Administrative Committee passed dates for the one-time-only college football transfer portal back earlier in October. As it stands, the 2025-26 college football transfer portal will last 15 days. It’ll span Jan. 2 to Jan. 16, the NCAA announced.

Moving forward, the entire Division I football notification of transfer windows is slated for Jan 2-16. As has been the previous standard, athletes on College Football Playoff teams still playing would have 5 days beginning the day after their team’s final game to enter the transfer portal.

Additionally, players have 15 days to enter the portal, but they’re not under a deadline to commit when they enter. Traditionally, the deadline for committing is how late a school can enroll a player through admissions.

One caveat is that if a head coach is fired, the transfer portal will not open for players immediately. The NCAA revealed that moving forward, players will only have 15 days to enter the portal after a coaching change, instead of the former allocation of 30 days. Players will also have to wait five days after a new coach is hired or announced. 

Finally, graduate transfers also cannot enter the transfer portal until Jan. 2 with the new one-time-only portal window. All these new guidelines are bound to shake things up, but the transfer portal will still remain as interesting and entertaining as ever.