Transfer Portal News: TE Austin Stogner Returning to Oklahoma

A year after joining Spencer Rattler at South Carolina, the big tight end has announced he'll play for the Sooners in 2023.

Oklahoma finally got some good news from the NCAA Transfer Portal — and a familiar face is set to return to Norman.

After a year-long stint in South Carolina with multiple other Sooners, Austin Stogner is headed back to Oklahoma.

The senior tight end played a season in the SEC with former OU assistant coach Shane Beamer (now the Gamecocks' head coach) and quarterback Spencer Rattler after spending his first three college seasons with the Sooners.

Stogner announced his move Thursday on Twitter.

Run it back! pic.twitter.com/L439sTHd44

— Austin Stogner (@austin_stogner) December 8, 2022

The Sooners have seen 13 players exit the roster via the portal, while only one — Notre Dame defensive tackle Jacob Lacey — announced he would like to play for the Sooners next year.

This season with the Gamecocks, the 6-foot-5, 249-pound Stogner caught 20 passes for 210 yards and one touchdown. After being identified as a massive transfer portal addition for Beamer, Stogner’s production didn’t reach expected levels. Junior Jaheim Bell caught 25 passes for 231 yards and two TDs for Beamer's squad.

Stogner’s best season of his career came in 2020, when he recorded 422 yards and three touchdowns on 26 catches for Oklahoma and earned second-team All-Big 12 Conference accolades. Although he flexes out a lot, Stogner’s size and physicality is also useful as an inline blocking tight end.

Senior Brayden Willis’ graduation this offseason will open the door for more reps at the tight end spot at OU.

While the Sooners have current freshmen Jason Llewellyn and Kaden Helms, returning a seasoned veteran to the room will only add competition and talent.

In Stogner’s other two seasons at OU, he caught seven passes for 66 yards and two touchdowns as a freshman, and 14 passes for 166 yards and three touchdowns as a junior. In his college career, Stogner has 67 receptions for 864 yards (12.9 yards per catch) and has scored nine TDs.

Stogner joined the Sooners out of Prestonwood Christian Academy in Plano, TX.

In 2019, Stogner caught two touchdowns (5 and 3 yards) in OU's epic comeback from a 28-3 deficit to beat Baylor in Waco.  

His best games were in 2020, when he caught five passes for 83 yards against Kansas State, five passes for 74 yards against Iowa State and six passes for 56 yards and a TD against Texas in successive games. He followed those up with three catches for 77 yards and a score against Texas Tech, then had three catches for 75 yards and a TD against Kansas. 

In that KU game, Stogner took a hard hit to the thigh on his final catch and suffered a deep bruise. The bruise developed into a strep infection, which Stogner said nearly killed him. He lost 35 pounds and was in intensive care before he recovered and returned to play in the Cotton Bowl to end the 2020 season.

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