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Oklahoma Freshman Enters Transfer Portal After One Semester in Norman

A 4-star defensive lineman in the Sooners 2023 recruiting class entered the transfer portal on Monday afternoon following his January enrollment.

Randall Sweet

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Derrick LeBlanc, an incoming freshman defensive lineman from Kissimmee, FL, has entered the transfer portal after signing with OU in December, On3 reported on Monday afternoon. 

LeBlanc was a 4-star recruit coming out of high school, ranked No. 125 in the 2023 cycle according to ESPN. Listed at 6-foot-5 and 278 pounds as a true freshman, LeBlanc could have seemingly competed for playing time early in his career at Oklahoma. 

Coming out of high school, the Osceola (FL) product racked up over 40 offers, including Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State. 

The news of LeBlanc's transfer comes as a bit of a shock, as the talented trench player was a January enrollee and took snaps in the Sooners' spring game in March. Additionally, OU lost Kori Roberson, Josh Ellison, Cedric Roberts and Alton Tarber to the transfer portal this offseason, which seemingly gave LeBlanc a clearer path to get on the field as a freshman. 

Some fans have speculated that LeBlanc's transfer is a result of the veteran d-linemen that Brent Venables and company have brought into Norman through the transfer portal, such as Da'Jon Terry, Phillip Paea, Davon Sears and Jacob Lacey. 

Regardless, LeBlanc's entrance into the portal marks yet another departure along the defensive line for the Sooners. While losing such a highly coveted prospect is never a good sign, Oklahoma is much more prepared to handle the loss of LeBlanc this season after landing Terry and Paea in recent weeks. 

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Randall Sweet
RANDALL SWEET

Randall is a recruiting analyst and staff writer at AllSooners focusing primarily on OU Football and the recruiting trail. Working as a journalist, Randall has covered the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and high school sports across the state. A 2022 University of Oklahoma graduate, Randall hails from Lubbock, TX. While in college, Sweet wrote for the OU Daily in addition to working with Sooner Sports Pad and OU Nightly. Following his time at OU, Sweet served as the Communications Coordinator at Visit Oklahoma City before leaving to join the team at AllSooners. The West Texas native has bylines in the Norman Transcript and is a Staff Writer for Inside the Thunder. Randall holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK. 

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