Oklahoma football: This week telling for OU recruiting in transfer portal

This should be a telling week for Oklahoma football in pulling reinforcements from the ubiquitous transfer portal.

With school starting this week, the assumption is that many of the players in the portal would like to commit to a new school earlier than later and begin the transition into a new program in the spring rather than holding out into the summer before their new team.

The transfer portal was more of a one-way highway out of town for Oklahoma players after Lincoln Riley’s announcement that he was leaving to become head coach at USC. During the month of December and early this month, nine former Sooners elected to transfer out of the Oklahoma program.

Most of the outgoing transfers have officially landed somewhere else. One notable exception is freshman quarterback Caleb Williams, who is likely to join his former coach at USC, but as of this writing has not revealed where he will be playing next season.

Eleven Oklahoma players have also declared for the NFL Draft (five on offense and six on defense).

New Oklahoma football coach Brent Venables comes from a Clemson program that under head coach Dabo Swinney was not that active bringing in players via the portal, but current circumstances at OU have made access to the transfer market a valuable additional recruiting tool.

The Sooner coaching staff has been active in the portal over the last three to four weeks, gaining nine commitments through the transfer process, including three over the past two days, and they may not be done.

On Sunday, Oklahoma picked up Wyoming transfer cornerback C.J. Coldon, and on Monday added Louisville defensive back Kani Walker as well as former North Carolina cornerback Trey Morrison. Five of the eight incoming OU transfers are defensive players.

Oklahoma did lose out on a defensive lineman the Sooner coaching staff was working hard to reel in former Tulsa defensive lineman Jaxon Player, who has committed to Baylor.

Another interesting development to follow over the next few days is where former USC QB Jaxson Dart will end up. Dart is the second Trojan QB to enter the transfer portal, which could lead to Caleb Williams committing to USC. In the meantime, Dart announced on Monday that he has narrowed his choices to Oklahoma or USC.

Landing Dart could end up in a two for one as former USC WR Michael Trigg is expected to follow Dart to wherever he ends up.

Here is the list of transfers that have already committed to come to Oklahoma:

Dillon Gabriel, QB (from UCF)

Jeffrey Johnson, DT (from Tulane)

Jonah Laulu, DT (from Hawaii)

McKade Mettauer, OL (from California)

Daniel Parker Jr., TE (Missouri)

T.D. Roof, LB (from Appalachian State)

C.J. Coldon, CB (from Wyoming)

Kani Walker, CB (from Louisville)

Trey Morrison, CB (from North Carolina)