The Texas Longhorns are losing another promising young player to the NCAA transfer portal with Thursday’s news that edge Zina Umeozulu is departing the program.
The 6’5, 262-pounder has three seasons of eligibility remaining.
Out of Allen in the 2024 recruiting class, Umeozulu took official visits to Oklahoma and Texas A&M before committing to Texas during his senior season, following in the footsteps of his older brother, Neto, an offensive lineman for the Longhorns. Other offers for Umeozulu included Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Miami, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Oregon, Tennessee, and USC. Umeozulu finished the cycle as a consensus four-star prospect ranked as the No. 165 player overall and the No. 14 edge, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.
While redshirting in 2024, Umeozulu played one snap in the blowout win over Louisiana-Monroe before taking on a bigger role in 2025, appearing in 12 games — he didn’t play against Texas A&M — seeing his playing time increase to 203 snaps. Umeozulu recorded 13 tackles (four solo), three tackles for loss, two sacks, and 13 total pressures, including 10 quarterback hurries. Umeozulu also recorded six stops.
With starter Ethan Burke exhausting his eligibility, Umeozulu was expected to play an important role in the rotation at Jack end behind prospective starter Lance Jackson, a rising sophomore.
Now Umeozulu could once again follow his older brother to another school in a significant blow for the Longhorns.
