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Oklahoma Cornerback Will Return For His Senior Year in 2024

Woodi Washington had the option of leaving for the NFL or coming back next year, and he decided another year is in his best interests.

John E. Hoover

Oklahoma Cornerback Will Return For His Senior Year in 2024
Oklahoma Cornerback Will Return For His Senior Year in 2024 /
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A major piece of Brent Venables’ puzzle has decided to return for the 2024 season.

Cornerback Woodi Washington, a fifth-year senior and three-year starter who was voted permanent team captain in 2023, will utilize his COVID year and return to play for Oklahoma in 2024.

He announced the news Tuesday night on social media.

Woodi Washington IG

Washington, from Murfreesboro, TN, played 851 snaps this season and 889 last season as the Sooners’ top cornerback in Brent Venables’ revamped defense.

"Woodi’s been fantastic," Venables said in November. "Man, he's been great in every way you would want an older guy to be."

He joins fellow impact starters Danny Stutsman and Billy Bowman in putting off the NFL Draft and returning to OU for next season.

2023-24 Oklahoma Player Tracker

Washington played 2,587 snaps in his OU career, dating back to 2019, when he came off the bench as a true freshman in the Peach Bowl. He became a starter midway through the 2020 regular season with a big performance against Texas that included a fourth-quarter interception. He also added an interception against Florida in the Cotton Bowl that season.

The 5-foot-11, 192-pound Washington, who was recruited by Mike Stoops and started 10 games for Alex Grinch, has played in 46 games for the Sooners, with 36 career starts.

In his career, Washington has made 202 total tackles, including a career-best 2.5 tackles for loss this season. He’s also intercepted five passes with 24 passes defensed.

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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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