BREAKING: Virginia lands Tyree, Notre Dame’s top receiver

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Virginia’s football program received a major boost from the transfer portal on Tuesday evening when Notre Dame’s top receiver, Chris Tyree, announced he had committed to the Cavaliers.

Tyree is a 5-foot-9, 192-pound receiver and kick returner from Chester, Va., and originally was a 5-star recruit (247Sports) out of Thomas Dale High School. He made his announcement on Twitter, noting “Back Home. Let’s work!!”

The blue-chipper played a plethora of roles for Notre Dame, primarily as a running back, punt returner and kick returner his first three seasons with the Irish. However, he made his debut as a true receiver in Notre Dame’s opening game of the season in 2023 when the Irish defeated Navy in Dublin, Ireland. In that game, he hauled in three passes for 36 yards. That was the tip of the iceberg.

Tyree went on to lead Notre Dame in receiving yards, but was also a force in the return game. Against Pitt, he returned a punt 82 yards for a touchdown to become the first Irish player to score via punt return, kickoff return, rushing and receiving since Julius Jones (Thomas Jones’ younger brother) from 1999-2003.

He had a 62-yard game on two catches, including a 46-yard TD against Southern Cal this past season.

As a junior in 2022, he was one of three Irish backs to carry the ball 100 or more times and finished the season with 444 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns. He also had 24 receptions for two TDs and was the primary kick returner.

At Thomas Dale, Tyree was a 5-star prospect by 247 Sports, 4-star by Rivals and ESPN. He was the No. 1 all-purpose back in the nation and the top recruit in the state of Virginia. He swas the No. 20 overall recruit in the country at any position according to ESPN’s rankings that year.

Tyree compiled 3,284 all-purpose yards during his career at Notre Dame. He had 1,161 rushing yards on 232 attempts and scored 8 touchdowns. He also had 945 receiving yards on 82 catches and scored seven times.