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Report: Another Oklahoma RB Enters Transfer Portal

The Sooners took a shot on Washington transfer Emeka Megwa, and while he often impressed teammates and coaches at practice, his injuries prevented him from cracking the lineup.

John E. Hoover

Oklahoma running back Emeka Megwa
Oklahoma running back Emeka Megwa / John E. Hoover / Sooners On SI
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Oklahoma’s running back room has taken its second hit in less than 30 minutes.

Emeka Megwa, a powerfully built, hard-running, oft-injured former transfer from Washington, has entered the NCAA Transfer Portal, according to a tweet posted Thursday by On3’s Hayes Fawcett.

Megwa, a 6-0, 213-pound walk-on from Fort Worth, played just two snaps in the 2023 season finale against TCU, and this year he did not get into any games.

The news of Megwa's intention to transfer (the portal opens Monday) comes just minutes after news of OU running back Kalib Hicks' decision to leave as well.

In July, senior linebacker Danny Stutsman was asked at SEC Media Days which OU running back was the hardest to tackle. 

“Emeka’s gotta be up there,” Stutsman said. “That’s a guy that’s had a lot of injuries but you look at him and you’re like ‘This guy should be a 99 overall on a video game,’ because he’s built.”

Megwa was a 4-star recruit and a priority running back when he signed with the Huskies in 2021, but he suffered an injury and did not play in 2021. He transferred to OU in Brent Venables’ first season in 2022, but was still rehabbing his injury and, since he transferred after the portal deadline, was technically ineligible and did not play.

Venables called it a meniscus and ACL injury he sustained at Washington.

The Seattle Times reported in February that Megwa is suing the University of Washington and “nine current or former members of its sports medicine staff, coaching staff, athletic trainers and physical therapists” for negligence in rehabilitating an ACL injury he suffered in June 2021, leading to its reinjury in March 2022.

His attorney, Andrew Ackley, says Megwa has "been set back multiple years in his recovery” due to the university’s negligence.

Megwa’s expected recovery timeline was between nine and 12 months for the initial injury. The lawsuit, filed in King’s County (Wash.), alleges that, after former Huskies head coach Kalen DeBoer (now at Alabama) took the reins of the program in November 2021 — five months into that timeline — the new staff failed to communicate with Megwa regarding his rehab.

The suit alleges that in January 2022, despite being told he was “between two and three months always from being cleared to play” by UW’s sports medicine staff, the team instructed Megwa to participate in conditioning and weightlifting. The suit claims Megwa reported pain in his shin later that month but was given new shoes rather than sent to see a doctor. In February, Megwa felt pain in his knee, but an on-field evaluation determined his ACL was stable, and he was allegedly given painkillers thereafter.

Megwa’s camp alleges he was ridiculed in front of his teammates for sitting out and told to “drop your (expletive) nuts and get on the (expletive) line, that’s some (multiple expletives).” Megwa continued to lift and, again, was not sent to a physician when he again felt “sharp pain” up his left knee in late February.

The suit claims that on March 7, an MRI determined Megwa had re-torn his ACL, “along with new medical and lateral meniscus tears.” He was allegedly told to enter the transfer portal and eventually walked on at OU. 

Megwa was a first-team All-State and All-District running back in high school. He played his senior year at Timber Creek High School after playing his first three seasons at Nolan Catholic High. Rivals rated him as the No. 15 athlete in the class, while 247 Sports ranked him No. 20 nationally as an athlete. ESPN rated him as the No. 27 running back prospect coming out of high school.

That included a total of 730 yards and 12 touchdowns as he led his team to an 8-1 finish during the COVID-shortened 2020 season. Megwa ran for 1,7885 yards and 29 TDs as a sophomore to earned District MVP accolades. He also ran for 576 yards as a high school freshman on the Nolan Catholic varsity.

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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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