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Former Oklahoma LB Lands at Central Florida

The former IMG Academy star from Philadelphia was injured both of his years in Norman and decided to enter the transfer portal.

John E. Hoover

Former Oklahoma linebacker Phil Picciotti
Former Oklahoma linebacker Phil Picciotti / Phil Picciotti via Twitter/X
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Phil Picciotti gave it a go with the Sooners.

But the second-year linebacker never could get healthy, and never could crack the rotation at Oklahoma.

So Picciotti will start over, he announced on Monday, at Central Florida.

He was a 4-star recruit, per Rivals, while ESPN, 247 Sports and On3 all listed him as a 3-star out of IMG Academy in Florida as a member of the 2023 recruiting class. 

Picciotti played his senior year in Bradenton, after transferring in 2022 from Pennridge High School in Perkasie, PA.

As a junior at Pennridge, Picciotti recorded 144 total tackles. His senior year with IMG’s national team, he finished with 62 tackles.

“Some of the tackles he made when we were in a live practice tackle situation,” IMG coach Billy Miller told Sooners On SI in 2023, “were some of the best tackles I’ve ever seen at The Academy.”

That’s saying something — IMG puts out some of the best high school talent in the nation year in and year out — and OU coach Brent Venables agreed.

“I felt like (he) was one of the most violent middle linebackers (in the 2023 class),” Venables said on signing day. “Just can't block this guy. Violent hands. Great instincts. Really what you want to be strong on defense, just being strong up the middle.”

He was heavily recruited by Penn State, of course, but eventually chose OU over Auburn, Nebraska and Michigan. Picciotti visited the OU campus four times before taking his official visit and locked onto what Venables and his staff had to sell.

Miller said, “Phil’s an old-school player. I wish I could get six more of him. He’s a downhill guy — see ball, hit ball. Not afraid of violent contact. Does a great job shedding blocks and using his hands to get to the ball carrier.”

Picciotti did not appear in any games for OU in either of his first two years in Norman.

While Picciotti is among 25 Sooners from the 2024 roster — seven defenders — to leave via the transfer portal. He joined Dasan McCullough as defections from Zac Alley’s linebacker room.

The winter window of the transfer portal officially opens on Dec. 9 and closes on Dec. 28. Players are not required to choose their new schools by the closing date, but they must declare by the deadline to officially be a part of the portal during the winter window.

Players also have the option to return to their original school if they don’t find a program that suits them.

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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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