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Oklahoma Lands Second Transfer Portal Tight End

The Sooners badly need a refit at the position, and added a second body on Saturday.

John E. Hoover

Pittsburg State tight end Will Huggins
Pittsburg State tight end Will Huggins / Pittsburg State Athletics
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Joe Jon Finley finally has his man. Or maybe new quarterback John Mateer gets credit for this one.

Oklahoma’s tight ends coach needs players but has had a tough time landing any prospects out of the NCAA Transfer Portal over the past two weeks. But he got some help on Saturday.

OU received a commitment from Will Huggins, a big tight end at Pittsburg State.

The 6-foot-7, 250-pound Huggins announced on Dec. 2 that he would be entering the transfer portal as a graduate transfer. The winter portal window is open from Dec. 9-28.

Huggins had committed to play at Washington State on Dec. 12, as WSU even announced his signing with the Cougars.

But just seven days later, Mateer, the former Wazzu quarterback, announced he was following offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle to Norman, and that apparently changed Huggins’ mind about the Cougs.

Huggins posted sat week, “Due to recent circumstances at Washington State I have re-entered my name in the transfer portal.”

Seven minutes later, Huggins posted that OU had offered him a scholarship.

Huggins was first-team All-Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association this season as he made 22 catches for 395 yards — 18 yards per catch — with one touchdown and helped lead NCAA Division II powerhouse Pitt State to an 8-3 record. Huggins was one of three Gorillas named Division II All-Super Region this season.

Huggins originally signed with the Kansas Jayhawks out of Shawnee Mission South High School in Overland Park, KS, as a 247 Sports 3-star prospect. After catching 26 passes for 436 yards and three touchdowns, he was rated as the No. 46 tight end in the nation in the 2020 recruiting class and, after getting an offer from the Jayhawks, chose KU over interest from Arkansas, Iowa State, Kansas State and South Dakota State.

He played four seasons as a reserve for Kansas, logging 60 total snaps in 11 career games between 2020 and 2023, according to Pro Football Focus. He made one catch for 20 yards and a touchdown.

After finishing his one season with the Gorillas, Huggins received transfer offers from Kent State, UTEP, Northern Arizona, Middle Tennessee, Nevada, Houston, MIami-OH, Toledo, Ball State and Washington State before OU came through with one this week.

Finley’s tight end group struggled each of the last two seasons, but the former Sooner tight end has continued to involve his players in the game plan as he took on play-calling duties following Seth Littrrell’s midseason firing.

Starter Bauer Sharp transferred to LSU after a drastically up and down 2024 season in Norman. Senior and two-time transfer Jake Roberts is the starter for the Armed Forces Bowl against Navy on Dec. 27, and reserve Kaden Helms and true freshman Davon Mitchell are listed as the backups. Mitchell — a former 5-star prospect in the 2025 class — reclassified to 2024 but has not played in a game yet.

Pittsburg State Will Huggins Oklahoma Sooners
Pittsburg State tight end Will Huggins / Pittsburg State Athletics

Finley has made offers to tight ends in the portal from Tulsa (Luke McGary chose Houston) and Nebraska (Nate Boerkircher chose Texas A&M) but eventually added Kennessaw State’s Carson Kent.

As offensive coordinator at Washington State the past two seasons, Arbuckle has frequently utilized the tight end position. On this year's WSU roster, the Cougars include seven tight ends.

In addition to being used as key blocking components of the WSU run game, Cougar tight ends this season caught a combined for 19 receptions for 273 yards and seven touchdowns.

Oklahoma has lost 25 total players so far to the transfer portal. Huggins is the eighth player to transfer to OU

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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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