Virginia has made its first big splash in the transfer portal. The Cavaliers secured their first transfer commitment of the offseason from Notre Dame wide receiver Chris Tyree, who announced his commitment on Tuesday night. Tyree comes to UVA as a graduate transfer with one year of eligibility remaining.
Tyree is Virginia’s first transfer commitment of the offseason, but he might end up being the most significant transfer as he comes in to replace the production of Malik Washington, who broke UVA’s single-season receiving records in his lone year as a Cavalier.
This move represents a homecoming for Tyree, who attended Thomas Dale High School in Chester, Virginia. Tyree was a five-star recruit coming out of high school by 247Sports, which ranked him as the No. 25 overall recruit in the class of 2020, the No. 1 all-purpose back in the country, and the top-ranked recruit in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Tyree played three seasons at running back and excelled as a pass-catcher out of the backfield before transitioning to full-time wide receiver for the Fighting Irish last spring. In 2023, Tyree recorded 26 receptions for 484 yards and three touchdowns. He appeared in all 12 games, including six starts, and served as Notre Dame’s punt returner, returning 11 punts for 119 yards and a touchdown (averaging 10.8 yards per return). With that punt return touchdown, Tyree became just the fourth player in Notre Dame history to record a punt return, kick return, rushing, and receiving touchdown in his career.
In 49 career games played, including 14 starts, Tyree totaled 82 receptions for 945 receiving yards and seven receiving touchdowns, 232 carries for 1,161 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns. He also added 1,059 kick return yards and 119 punt returns, amassing 3,284 all-purpose yards in his four seasons at Notre Dame.
Tyree entered the portal on November 27th as a graduate transfer, visited UVA last weekend, and announced his commitment to spend his final year of eligibility as a Cavalier on Tuesday night.
It isn’t a stretch to say that the example of Malik Washington likely played a big role in Tyree ending up choosing Virginia. Washington transferred to UVA from Northwestern last year and in just one season as a Cavalier, very likely made a career for himself in the NFL after a record-breaking season. Tyree and Washington are quite similar in stature, with Washington standing at 5’8″, 194 pounds, while Tyree is listed at 5’9″, 192 pounds. Both players wore No. 4 at their respective schools this season as well.
Virginia is certainly hopeful that lightning strikes twice and Chris Tyree follows in the very successful footsteps of Malik Washington in his one season as a Cavalier.
Source: Cavaliers Now
