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Sunday Offering: Oklahoma Stays Active in Transfer Portal, High School Recruiting

After a busy week of recruiting for the Sooners' staff, OU came away with two new commitments and a handful of prospects for fans to keep an eye on.

Randall Sweet

Sunday Offering: Oklahoma Stays Active in Transfer Portal, High School Recruiting
Sunday Offering: Oklahoma Stays Active in Transfer Portal, High School Recruiting /
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With the NCAA regular season over and the transfer portal officially opening on Monday, the past week has been one of the most hectic recruiting periods in recent memory.

Hundreds of talented college football players are looking for new homes, with plenty already taking visits and announcing their next chapter. 

In addition to Brent Venables and his staff scouring the portal, Oklahoma has also been heavily involved with a number of high school recruits over the past week, extending multiple offers and finding itself in contention for a handful of prospects.

Transfer portal

The Sooners have already landed two commitments through the transfer portal, with former Michigan State offensive lineman Spencer Brown announcing his decision on Wednesday night and former San Diego State defensive back Dezjhon Malone revealing his pledge on Sunday morning.

2023-24 Oklahoma Player Tracker

Brown was a veteran starter for the Spartans who appeared on the Reese's Senior Bowl Watch List ahead of the 2023 season. Listed at 6-foot-6 and 315-pounds, Brown should be able to fill the gap left by starting left tackle Walter Rouse, who is out of eligibility after this season. 

Malone, who is listed at 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds, put up good numbers for the Aztecs, grabbing four interceptions over the past two years. 

With Woodi Washington potentially going to the NFL Draft and Gentry Williams battling injuries for a good chunk of the 2023 season, adding a veteran defensive back who is a two-time All-Mountain West Honorable Mention is a big boost for the Sooners' secondary.

Aside from Brown and Malone, OU is also in the mix for a number of other players in the transfer portal.

Andrew Mukuba, a former Clemson defensive back who entered the portal recently, will also take a visit to Oklahoma, according to a report.

A former 4-star recruit, Mukuba was recruited to Clemson by Venables before the Sooners' head coach made his return to Norman. In his lone season under Venables, Mukuba was named ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year and earned a spot on the Freshman All-American team.

In addition to Oklahoma, Mukuba is reportedly set to visit Texas, Oregon and Mississippi. 

Hailing from Austin, TX, Mukuba racked up 143 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, one sack, one interception and 16 pass breakups in his three seasons with the Tigers.

OU will also host former Notre Dame tight end Holden Staes next week, according to On3. 

The 6-foot-4, 240-pound sophomore spent two seasons with the Fighting Irish, heading to South Bend as a 4-star recruit. In 2023, Staes recorded 15 catches for 176 yards and four touchdowns.

With Oklahoma's lack of tight end depth and Austin Stogner playing his final collegiate football game later this month, the Sooners need to add multiple playmakers in the tight end room as they head to the SEC.

Over the weekend, the Sooners hosted Tulsa transfer kicker Chase Meyer.

As a sophomore in 2023, Meyer went 30-of-31 on PAT attempts and 17-of-20 on field goal attempts. With current OU kicker Zach Schmit struggling in 2023, adding Meyer to compete with Schmit and Gavin Marshall would be a big addition to Oklahoma's special teams unit.

In addition to the aforementioned players, Michigan State offensive line transfer Geno VanDeMark, North Texas offensive line transfer Febechi Nwaiwu, Southeastern Louisiana tight end transfer Bauer Sharp, South Carolina running back transfer Mario Anderson Jr., Tennessee-Martin running back transfer Samuel Franklin and Florida defensive line transfer Chris McClellan all received offers from the Sooners since entering the portal.

Nwaiwu and McClellan specifically are notable, as Nwaiwu was recruited to UNT by current OU offensive coordinator Seth Littrell before blossoming into a Freshman All-American and McClellan is an Owasso High School (OK) alum.

East Carolina defensive back transfer Teagan Wilk, Texas A&M offensive line transfer Chase Bisontis, Florida offensive line transfer Jalen Farmer and Purdue wide receiver transfer Deion Burks have all heard from Oklahoma, according to reports.

High school

The Sooners also had a busy week recruiting high school prospects, extending six offers and landing in four top schools lists.

First, 4-star offensive lineman Eddy Pierre-Louis announced his top five schools and his commitment date on Sunday evening. 

The Tampa Catholic (FL) product will choose between Oklahoma, UCF, Texas A&M, Miami and Oregon on Dec. 15. 

Listed at 6-foot-3 and 330 pounds, Pierre-Louis is rated the No. 28 overall prospect and the No. 1 interior offensive lineman in the nation, according to Rivals.

Later that night, 3-star 2025 offensive lineman Tyler Thomas included the Sooners in his top eight schools.

In addition to Oklahoma, Thomas included Tennessee, Penn State, Houston, LSU, Texas A&M, Mississippi and Texas in his list. 

Standing at 6-foot-4 and 310 pounds, Thomas hails from Dickinson, TX, and is rated one of the top 29 interior offensive lineman in the country, according to 247Sports.

On Thursday evening, 3-star 2025 defensive back Terrance Edwards of RIchmond, VA, revealed his top five, with OU, Clemson, Virginia Tech, Louisville and Tennessee making the cut. 

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Listed at 6-foot-1, Edwards has great length and speed for a cornerback and would be a big addition to the Sooners' upcoming recruiting class, which has just three defensive prospects thus far.

Despite initially planning his commitment for Jan. 12, Edwards posted on social media that he and his family have decided to push the date back.

Finally, on Saturday, 4-star tight end DaSaahn Brame included Oklahoma in his top eight alongside Oregon, Florida, Tennessee, Kansas State, Texas A&M, Alabama and Michigan. 

Hailing from Derby, KS, Brame is the No. 96 overall prospect and the No. 4 tight end in the 2025 cycle, according to 247Sports. If Joe Jon Finley and company are able to land a commitment from the 6-foot-6 tight end, he would be the highest rated pledge in the Sooners' upcoming recruiting class. 

Brame visited Norman over the summer for one of OU's major recruiting events.

In addition to the four aforementioned recruits, Oklahoma also handed out six offers over the past week.

4-star 2025 Skyline (TX) linebacker Elijah Barnes, 3-star 2025 South Oak Cliff (TX) linebacker JJ Shelton, 3-star 2025 Providence Academy (MN) defensive lineman Abu Tarawallie, 4-star 2026 Grayson (GA) linebacker Tyler Atkinson, 4-star 2026 Leuzinger (CA) edge rusher Samu Moala and 2027 Crowley (TX) wide receiver Antayvious Ellis all picked up an offer from the Sooners this week.

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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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