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Dan Murphy, ESPN Staff Writer 6y

Former Ole Miss QB Shea Patterson plans to transfer to Michigan

College Football, Ole Miss Rebels, Michigan Wolverines

Former Ole Miss quarterback Shea Patterson announced Monday on Twitter that he plans to transfer to Michigan.

Patterson could potentially be eligible to play for the Wolverines next fall because of the NCAA sanctions currently facing his old program. The NCAA said players heading into their senior season with the Rebels would be free to transfer without penalty when the governing body ruled to ban Ole Miss from postseason play next season.

Patterson, who will be a junior in 2018, will have to apply for an individual waiver from the NCAA to avoid sitting out a year in Ann Arbor.

Patterson was born in Toledo, Ohio, an hour south of Michigan's campus. He and several of his former teammates visited the Ann Arbor campus this past weekend. He publicly announced his decision to transfer Monday.

The former No. 1 quarterback recruit in the country, Patterson threw for 2,259 yards and 17 touchdowns in seven games this past fall before suffering a season-ending leg injury in late October.

If eligible, Patterson is expected to compete for the starting job in 2018. He joins a quarterback group that includes redshirt freshman Brandon Peters and freshman Dylan McCaffrey.

Peters started three games late in the season for Michigan, passing for four touchdowns and 486 yards before a head injury sidelined him for the last week of the regular season. McCaffrey is a former five-star prospect and younger brother of first-round draft pick Christian McCaffrey. He did not play as a true freshman in 2017.

If Patterson can compete for playing time in 2018, it will mark the fourth time in Jim Harbaugh's four seasons as a head coach at his alma mater that he holds a quarterback competition in the offseason. Peters competed with Wilton Speight, who plans to transfer this winter, and redshirt senior John O'Korn a year ago.

O'Korn and former starter Jake Rudock are both players who transferred to Michigan during Harbaugh's tenure after starting elsewhere in their college careers.

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