North Carolina QB transfer Gio Lopez commits to Wake Forest

North Carolina QB transfer Gio Lopez has committed to Wake Forest out of the NCAA transfer portal, per On3’s Pete Nakos. Lopez was the Tar Heels starting QB in 2025.

Lopez started in all 11 of his appearances for the Tar Heels this past season. He completed 65.1% of his pass attempts for 1,747 yards and 10 touchdowns, compared to five interceptions. Additionally, Lopez recorded 133 yards and scores in the ground game this past season.

Prior to joining head coach Bill Belichick and the Tar Heels, Lopez spent two seasons at South Alabama. Lopez had a breakout season for the Jaguars in 2024, tallying 11 starts.

He finished his redshirt freshman season with 2,557 passing yards and 18 touchdowns, while only throwing five interceptions. He also rushed for a career-high 465 yards and seven TDs. Lopez only appeared in five games in the 2023 season before ultimately redshirting.

Before college, Lopez played high school football at James Clemens (AL), where he was a three-star prospect. He was the No. 1,332 overall player and No. 70 quarterback in the 2023 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.

Now, Lopez will be joining a Wake Forest team 45 minutes down the road. He’s the fifth player to commit to the Demon Deacons this offseason. They currently boast the No. 44 overall class in the current On3 team transfer portal rankings. In addition, they’ve lost 13 players to the NCAA transfer portal this offseason.

Wake Forest is coming off an 8-4 regular season, which concluded with a 43-29 win over Mississippi State in the Mayo Bowl. It’s the best season for the Demon Deacons since 2021 when they won 11 games under former head coach Dave Clawson.

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.

On3’s Grant Grubbs contributed to this report.