Donavan Tate, a North Carolina freshman quarterback, is expected to arrive on campus today to start football practice but how long he stays is anyone's guess.
Tate is also an outstanding center fielder as well, and was the No. 3 choice in June's baseball draft by the San Diego Padres. He and his family are still negotiating with Padres officials.
If Tate doesn't sign with San Diego by midnight on Aug. 17, he will be considered a college student by Major League Baseball and will not be eligible for the baseball draft again until after his junior season.
Coach Butch Davis of UNC acknowledged that Tate could leave at any moment before the signing deadline if Tate's family and the Padres reach a contract agreement, but said that Tate will be welcomed into the football program.
"He has stated emphatically that the reason he chose North Carolina is he wanted to be a college student and he wanted an opportunity to play big-time college football and to play on a big-time college baseball team," Davis said.
"He still is in love with Carolina but he doesn't know right now. It's all kind of somewhat up in the air."
Tate passed for 17 touchdowns and 1,197 yards as a high-school senior in Cartersville, Ga., but played only the last six games at quarterback. He played receiver and defensive back in the first six games.
Davis said that Tate will begin his UNC career at quarterback. SuperPrep magazine, ranked Tate the nation's No. 4 "athlete" last season and the No. 5 senior in Georgia.
Tate batted .530 for his high-school baseball team as a junior and at least one of his pitches was clocked at 95 miles an hour.
"It was a little bit of a shock to Donavan that he got drafted as high (as he did)," Davis said. "I think they thought that he would be drafted in the first round, but for him to be the third pick in the draft, I don't think that they actually envisioned that particular scenario."
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