With Oklahoma's first SEC season rapidly approaching, a look at the top incoming transfers for each of the 12 teams on the Sooners' schedule.
Tom Green
Oklahoma's inaugural SEC season is quickly approaching. The Sooners are a little more than three months away from kicking off their first season in their new league, with their first game slated for Aug. 30 at home against Temple in a rare Friday night game at Owen Field.
Of course, Oklahoma's SEC slate won't start until a few weeks after that, when Tennessee — and its coach, former OU quarterback and one-time offensive coordinator Josh Heupel — visit Norman on Sept. 21. That game will mark the start of a brutal first SEC slate for Oklahoma, which heads into the season with the nation's No. 3 strength of schedule, according to ESPN's SP+.
The Sooners have games against six teams that finished last season ranked in the final AP top-25, including five that finished the year inside the top-12. That includes College Football Playoff semifinalists Texas and Alabama, as well as Missouri, Ole Miss and LSU. Two of those six games this season, against Tennessee (No. 17 in the final AP poll last season) and Alabama, will be home games for Oklahoma. Three of them — Ole Miss, Missouri and LSU — will be SEC road trips for OU, while the annual Red River Rivalry against Texas is, as always, at the Cotton Bowl down in Dallas.
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Those six games make up half of Oklahoma's 2024 schedule, which also includes three straight nonconference home games to open the year against Temple, Houston and Tulane, and a Week 5 road trip to Auburn that's followed by the team's first of two bye weeks. After the Red River Rivalry, Oklahoma will host South Carolina. Two weeks later, after the trip to Ole Miss, OU will play its final nonconference game against FCS opponent Maine at home. The Sooners' second bye week falls between the trip to Missouri and the home game against Alabama before Brent Venables' team closes out the year at LSU.
It will undoubtedly be a gauntlet of a slate for Oklahoma in its first year in the SEC. To prepare for the upcoming season, let's take a look at those opponents and examine the biggest transfer portal addition this offseason for each of the 12 teams on Oklahoma's schedule:
TEMPLE: TOREY RICHARDSON, CORNERBACK
A transfer from UTEP, Corey Richardson is rated as the No. 829 overall player and the No. 111 cornerback in the transfer portal this offseason. Richardson had 33 tackles, including three for a loss, along with eight pass breakups and an interceptions for UTEP last season while starting every game at cornerback.
Other notable portal additions: Maryland RB Antwain Littleton II, NC State LB T.K. Wright
HOUSTON: COREY PLATT JR., LINEBACKER
Corey Platt Jr.,rated as the No. 134 overall player and 11th-best linebacker in the 247Sports transfer portal rankings this offseason, transferred to Houston from Tulane, where he appeared in just one game last season before sustaining an Achilles injury that required surgery and sidelined him for the remainder of the year. In his lone appearance for the Green Wave, Platt started at linebacker and racked up 15 tackles and a sack. Platt followed former Tulane coach Willie Fritz to Houston this offseason.
Other notable portal additions: ULL LB Kendre Grant, Michigan State TE Maliq Carr, Syracuse CB Jeremiah Wilson
TULANE: MARIO WILLIAMS, WIDE RECEIVER
A familiar name for Oklahoma fans, as Mario Williams began his career with the Sooners in 2021 — when he caught 35 passes for 380 yards and four touchdowns — before following Lincoln Riley to USC the following offseason. Two years later, Williams is on his third school, landing at Tulane as the No. 158 overall player and 31st-best wide receiver in the transfer portal this cycle. Last season he caught 29 passes for 305 yards and two scores for the Trojans after a sophom*ore season in which he had 40 receptions for 631 yards and five touchdowns.
Other notable portal additions: Oregon QB Ty Thompson, Alabama WR Shazz Preston, Austin Peay LB Sam Howard
TENNESSEE: LANCE HEARD, OFFENSIVE TACKLE
Lance Heard comes to Tennessee from LSU, where the big offensive tackle appeared in five games and made one start at right tackle as a freshman. He hit the portal during the initial window back in January — and even took a visit to Oklahoma — before committing to Tennessee. He's rated as the No. 20 player in the transfer portal this offseason and was a former five-star prospect in the 2023 class who was rated as the 15th-best recruit and No. 3 overall prospect in the country that cycle.
Other notable portal additions: Notre Dame TE Holden Staes, Tulane WR Chris Brazzell II, Oregon State CB Jermod McCoy, Middle Tennessee State S Jakobe Thomas
AUBURN: KEANDRE LAMBERT-SMITH, WIDE RECEIVER
KeAndre Lambert-Smith, rated as the No. 70 overall player in the 247Sports transfer portal rankings, comes to Auburn after starting his career at Penn State. He spent four seasons with the Nittany Lions and enjoyed his best season to date in 2023, when he led the team with 53 receptions for 673 yards and four touchdowns. Lambert-Smith, who played both in the slot and split out wide last season, had five drops on 85 targets and made catches on five of 11 contested throws.
Other notable portal additions: Maryland TE Rico Walker, Mississippi State OT Percy Lewis, Georgia State WR Robert Lewis
TEXAS: ISAIAH BOND, WIDE RECEIVER
The former Alabama wideout, who is perhaps best remembered for his game-winning touchdown in the Iron Bowl last fall, transferred to Texas in the spring after Nick Saban's retirement. Isaiah Bond, rated the No. 5 player in the transfer portal this offseason, was Alabama's second-leading receiver last season in terms of yardage and led the team in receptions. He posted 48 catches for 668 yards and four touchdowns, averaging 19.2 yards per reception. He now joins a Texas offense that is replacing its top-two receivers from last season, Xavier Worthy and Adonai Mitchell.
Other notable portal additions: UTSA EDGE Trey Moore, Clemson S Andrew Mukuba, Alabama TE Amari Niblack, Houston WR Matthew Golden
SOUTH CAROLINA: RAHEIM SANDERS, RUNNING BACK
Rated as the No. 54 overall player in the transfer portal this offseason and the No. 4 running back available, Raheim Sanders transferred to South Carolina after spending three seasons at Arkansas. Sanders was the Razorbacks' leading rusher in 2022, when he was one of the top running backs in all of college football while rushing for 1,443 yards and 10 touchdowns on 222 carries, averaging 6.5 yards per attempt. Sanders, a preseason All-American a year ago, was limited to just six games last season after sustaining a knee injury in Arkansas' season opener. He finished the year with 209 yards and two touchdowns on 62 carries and has rushed for 2,230 yards and 17 touchdowns for his career, which includes 18 starts across 32 games.
Other notable portal additions: Charlotte LB Demetrius Knight Jr., Georgia Tech EDGE Kyle Kennard, Pitt DL DeAndre Jules, North Texas TB Oscar Adaway III
OLE MISS: WALTER NOLEN, DEFENSIVE LINEMAN
Walter Nolen, a transfer from Texas A&M, is the No. 4 player in the 247Sports transfer portal rankings. The 6-foot-4, 290-pounder started 10 of 12 games for Texas A&M last season while making 37 tackles, with 8.5 for a loss and four sacks. He had 16 total pressures and accounted for 21 stops (plays considered a failure by the opposing offense) before hitting the portal in the offseason and landing at Ole Miss as the jewel of Lane Kiffin's top-ranked portal class.
Other notable portal additions: Florida EDGE Prince Umanmielen, South Carolina WR Antwane Wells Jr., Alabama CB Trey Amos, Arkansas LB Chris Paul Jr.
MAINE: JOHN OLMSTEAD, OFFENSIVE GUARD
Maine, an FCS program, doesn't have any incoming transfers ranked in the 247Sports transfer portal database this offseason, but the program did add a couple of key transfers this offseason. Chief among them was offensive lineman John Olmstead, a one-time four-star prospect who began his career at Notre Dame in 2019 before initially transferring to Lafayette, where he started all 12 games at right guard last season.
Other notable portal additions: Mercer QB Carter Peevy
MISSOURI: CAYDEN GREEN, OFFENSIVE LINEMAN
A familiar name and a bit of a stinging reminder for Oklahoma fans, Cayden Green took over as the Sooners' starting left guard midway through last season and looked to be a foundational piece for OU's offensive line moving forward. Then, during bowl practices in December, Green abruptly left the team and entered the transfer portal before ultimately landing at Missouri. He's rated as the No. 12 player in the transfer portal this offseason. He started five games at left guard for OU and played 568 total snaps before his departure in December.
Other notable portal additions: Clemson CB Toriano Pride Jr., Georgia EDGE Darris Smith, Maryland LB Jeremiah Beasley, Georgia State RB Marcus Carroll, Florida DT Chris McClellan
ALABAMA: KADYN PROCTOR, OFFENSIVE TACKLE
A strange wrinkle and one of the bigger stories of the 2024 transfer portal cycle involved Kadyn Proctor, who was part of Alabama SEC championship team that made the College Football Playoff last season before transferring to Iowa this spring. However, Proctor reversed course in April and returned to Alabama. Proctor is the No. 2 player in the transfer portal this offseason and the top-rated offensive tackle. Proctor, an SEC All-Freshman selection last season who was the No. 1 offensive tackle and No. 10 overall player in the 2023 recruiting cycle, started all 14 games at left tackle for the Tide last season. His return to Alabama after the brief stint at Iowa provided new Tide coach Kalen DeBoer with a signature addition to the program's third-ranked transfer portal haul this offseason.
Other notable portal additions: Washington OL Parker Brailsford, Texas A&M DL LT Overton, USC CB Domani Jackson, Penn State S King Mack, Michigan S Keon Sabb
LSU: JARDIN GILBERT, SAFETY
Jardin Gilbert was one of several players to following the Aggies' coaching change this offseason — with the program firing Jimbo Fisher and tabbing Mike Elko as his replacement. Gilbert, rated the No. 28 player in the transfer portal and the No. 2 safety, is a Baton Rouge, Louisiana, native who spent three seasons at Texas A&M and appeared in 25 games, including 12 starts. He started each of the first two games at free safety for the Aggies last season and made five tackles and a pass breakup before missing the remainder of the season due to a shoulder injury.
Other notable portal additions: Liberty WR CJ Daniels, Mississippi State WR Zavion Thomas, Vanderbilt QB AJ Swann, Ohio State CB Jyaire Brown
