All Sooners

Former Oklahoma Linebacker Lewis Carter Selects New Home

The former high school All-America and 4-star LB was a standout on special teams and might have been in for more playing time on defense in Norman.

John E. Hoover

Oklahoma linebacker Lewis Carter
Oklahoma linebacker Lewis Carter / BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK
In this story:

A former Oklahoma linebacker is going home.

Lewis Carter, a sophomore from Tampa, FL, revealed Saturday that he’ll be playing college football next season at Central Florida, according to a Twitter post from On3’s Hayes Fawcett.

Carter, a 6-foot, 223-pound linebacker who was a high school All-American and earned 4-star recognition from 247 Sports, Rivals and ESPN, played in all 25 games in his college career as a backup linebacker and frequent special teams big-play artist.

He logged 21 tackles this season, including two tackles for loss, as well as a forced fumble and a fumble recovered. 

Carter played a total of 374 snaps last season — 126 on defense and 248 on special teams.

As a true freshman last season,  Carter had seven tackles with a half TFL and one QB hurry. He played 171 total snaps in 2023 — 30 on defense and 141 on special teams, according to Pro Football Focus.

At Tampa Catholic, Carter earned 3-star recognition from On3 as he compiled more than 300 career tackles with 10 TFLs, four interceptions, four forced fumbles and three fumbles recovered. 

The Under Armour All-American chose OU over Auburn, Clemson, North Carolina and others. 

Some presumed that Carter would follow linebackers coach Zac Alley to West Virginia, where he shockingly took the Mountaineers’ defensive coordinator job last Saturday. He’ll play in the Big 12, but will instead play for the Knights in Orlando, just a short drive from his hometown.

OU has lost 26 players to the transfer portal, including three linebackers: Carter, Phil Picciotti and Dasan McCullough. Seven players from the Sooner defense have entered the portal.

Carter was the first Sooner to hit the portal since Alley’s departure. At UCF, he'll be reunited with Picciotti, who hails from Pennsylvania and played his final two years of high school ball at IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL. In Orlando, they'll play for returning head coach Scott Frost, who hired former Lincoln Riley assistant Alex Grinch as his defensive coordinator.

OU has brought in 12 players via the portal — 10 on offense, two on special teams and zero on defense.

The NCAA Transfer Portal opens again in the spring, from April 16-25. Players whose head coaches leave also can enter the portal any time, as can graduate students.

Published |Modified
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.

Home/Football