UVA adds another wide receiver from portal, Kent State’s Harris

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Posted on Saturday, Dec. 23, 2023, 9:32 pm

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By Jerry Ratcliffe

Photo: Kent State Athletics

Should you bump into Virginia wide receivers coach Adam Mims, you’ll no doubt notice the wide smile he’s wearing. Mims’ Christmas presents arrived early, and the most recent came Saturday night when he added a third receiver from the transfer portal to the Cavaliers’ receiving corps.

Trell Harris, a 6-foot-1, 185-pound sophomore wideout from Kent State, announced his commitment to UVA on social media. The former all-state, 3-star from Nazareth Academy in LaGrange, Ill., has two years of eligibility remaining.

While Harris was lightly recruited out of high school, getting offered by South Dakota, Northern Iowa and Illinois State, everything has changed after a solid sophomore year at Kent State.

After entering the transfer portal, Harris was a big recruiting target by a myriad of Power 5 schools including: Pitt, Michigan State, Indiana, Minnesota, West Virginia, Vanderbilt, and others such as Liberty, San Diego State, East Carolina, South Florida and Marshall.

This past season with the Golden Flashes, Harris played in 11 games, started five and had 26 receptions for 400 yards and a touchdown.

Several schools liked the potential when scouting him out of the portal, perhaps also looking at his high-school career, which included 54 catches for 870 yards and 12 touchdowns along with 750 return yards for six TDs.

Virginia offered Harris early and he visited Charlottesville shortly afterward, prompting Mims, head coach Tony Elliott and offensive coordinator Des Kitchings to visit Harris at his Illinois home.

Also an All-Mac Academic honoree, Harris is UVA’s seventh player from the transfer portal, and strengthens what appears to be a dynamic wide-receiver corps transferring in. Virginia already signed two portal receivers: Notre Dame’s Chris Tyree and North Carolina’s Andre Greene Jr.

Virginia’s transfer portal players: Tyree, Greene Jr., Central Florida/Stanford offensive lineman Drake Metcalf, Harvard tight end Tyler Neville, Akron linebacker Corey Thomas Jr., and Penn defensive back Kendren Smith.

UVA also signed two high-school wide receivers in Kameron Courtney, who flipped from Indiana, and Triston Ward (see related signing day story here).