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Former Oklahoma DB Announces He'll Transfer to Kansas

D.J Graham, who authored one of the greatest catches in Sooners history, has been in the transfer portal multiple times but says he'll finish his career with the Jayhawks.

John E. Hoover

Former Oklahoma cornerback D.J. Graham
Former Oklahoma cornerback D.J. Graham / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
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A former Oklahoma defensive back is back in the Big 12 Conference.

D.J. Graham, who played cornerback for the Sooners in 2020-22 before dabbling at wide receiver and eventually transferring to Utah State, announced Tuesday that he’ll be finishing his career back with the Kansas Jayhawks, according to On3.

Graham played in eight games as a true freshman in 2020 before making 10 starts at corner in 2021. Graham played in the Sooners’ first eight games of 2022 before flipping to wide receiver for the rest of the season but did not get any snaps as a wideout.

Graham entered 2023 hoping to make the transition to offense and even caught two passes for 74 yards in the Red/White Game. But he then missed the entire 2023 season with an undisclosed injury. The former 3-star recruit from Keller, TX, announced in early September that he would undergo season-ending surgery.

Graham called playing for the Sooners "a childhood dream fulfilled" and said he'll "bleed Crimson and Cream forever." He was the first player off the 2023 roster to enter the portal.

Graham finished his career at Oklahoma with 72 tackles, one tackle for loss, five pass breakups, two interceptions and one forced fumble.

He left OU after the 2023 season and transferred to Utah State, where he switched back to defense and made an immediate impact for the Aggies in 12 starts, logging 42 tackles, two interceptions, two passes defensed and three forced fumbles, before deciding to transfer again.

Graham’s career highlight remains his horizontal, one-handed interception at Owen Field against the Nebraska Cornhuskers, a dramtic 23-16 Sooner victory, in 2021.

It was a crazy play that catapulted Graham's image onto T-shirts and posters everywhere in Sooner Nation and was one of the team's first overt forays into the early NIL landscape.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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