All Sooners

Oklahoma Quarterback Enters Transfer Portal

Freshman Ben Harris, a local walk-on with an impressive high school resume, says he became a better player and teammate during his time with the Sooners.

John E. Hoover

Oklahoma Quarterback Enters Transfer Portal
Oklahoma Quarterback Enters Transfer Portal /

As Oklahoma’s quarterback room has filled up, the numbers have not been in everyone’s favor.

Ben Harris, a walk-on true freshman from Midwest City Carl Albert, announced Thursday that he’s entering the NCAA Transfer Portal.

“Because of the support and encouragement given to me,” Harris wrote, “I am a better player and teammate.”

Harris, who led the Titans to four straight Class 5A state championships and a 52-2 record as a four-year starter, told AllSooners last year that he was looking forward to learning from then-coach Lincoln Riley, whom he called “the quarterback whisperer.”

“My goal is to become a scholarship guy,” Harris said.

Harris spent his freshman season as a backup to Spencer Rattler and Caleb Williams and was behind fellow walk-on freshman Ralph Rucker on the depth chart.

The 6-foot-1, 205-pound Harris committed to OU last year the day after Micah Bowens announced he was transferring to OU from Penn State.

While Rattler and Williams transferred elsewhere, Brent Venables and Jeff Lebby picked up two new quarterbacks via the transfer portal and a junior college transfer for this season: Central Florida transfer Dillon Gabriel is the starter, and Pittsburgh transfer Davis Beville and Tyler Junior College General Booty are projected to be backups along with Rucker, Bowens and freshman Nick Evers.

Venables said after the spring game that the Sooners would likely remain in the market for additional quarterbacks via the portal.

“We’re still developing behind (Gabriel),” Venables said. “We don't have quote-unquote answers right now. The portal is a definite option for us. So if we go that route, we want someone who's the right fit. The right age. There's just a lot that goes into that, I don't need into all those weeds.

“But that is a definite concern for us, no question about it.”

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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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