Could Oklahoma pursue Clemson defensive tackle transfer?

Could the Oklahoma Sooners pursue Clemson Transfer Portal defensive tackle?

The Oklahoma Sooners look set in the middle of their defensive line.

[autotag]Gracen Halton[/autotag] had a breakout year. [autotag]Jayden Jackson[/autotag] earned a starting role as a true freshman. [autotag]Damonic Williams[/autotag] is returning for one more year. And former five-star defensive tackle [autotag]David Stone[/autotag] will be called upon to contribute more in 2025.

That’s a nice four-man rotation for the Sooners at defensive tackle. They also have Markus Strong, who didn’t play much in 2024. When he did play, he showed an edge Todd Bates can continue to develop. Oklahoma brought in four-star defensive tackle [autotag]Trent Wilson[/autotag], who brings a lot of promise to the position as well.

However, the Sooners could add another big body to the middle of the defense via the [autotag]transfer portal[/autotag]. Tre Williams, a former four-star defensive tackle, is reportedly entering the portal from Clemson, according to Pete Nakos of On3.

Williams was recruited by Todd Bates and Brent Venables and spent five years with the Clemson Tigers. As a grad transfer, he’d have one more year of eligibility. He’d be another veteran presence in the middle of the defense for the Sooners, filling the void left by the departing Da’Jon Terry.

In 2024, Williams recorded 14 total tackles, three tackles for loss and two sacks on just 303 snaps. He was a key piece for a defense that allowed 23.4 points per game for the ACC champion Tigers.

Both of Williams’ sacks came in Clemson’s College Football Playoff loss to the Texas Longhorns.

He’s an experienced player who is familiar with Brent Venables’ system and could add to what the Sooners are trying to do on defense in 2025.

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4-Star defensive tackle Trent Wilson signs with the Oklahoma Sooners

2025 four-star defensive lineman Trent Wilson signs with the Oklahoma Sooners.

The Oklahoma Sooners add to a promising young defensive line group in the [autotag]2025 recruiting class[/autotag] as four-star prospect [autotag]Trent Wilson[/autotag] signed with the Sooners during the [autotag]early signing period[/autotag].

Wilson is a consensus top 200 prospect in the 2025 cycle, coming in as high as the No. 97 overall player according to Rivals. Rivals also have Wilson as the No. 5 defensive lineman in the class, while On3 has him ranked No. 11 at his position.

He committed to the Oklahoma Sooners over offers from Penn State and Ohio State. In total, Wilson held 23 Power Four offers which included notable programs like Alabama, Oregon, and Texas.

Wilson stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 270 pounds. He’s explosive, quick, and incredibly athletic. He’s sure to be an interior defensive lineman who will give Zac Alley and this defensive staff some more juice for the middle of the Sooners defensive front. Bryant Crews, Sooners Wire

https://www.instagram.com/p/DDJ_iErxz8H/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Film

Hudl

Rating

Stars Overall Position State
ESPN 4 163 13 4
Rivals 4 97 5 4
247Sports 3 43 14
247 Composite 4 136 16 5
On3 Recruiting 4 123 11 3
On3 Industry 4 178 17 6

Vitals

Hometown Upper Marlboro, Maryland
Projected Position Defensive Line
Height 6-foot-3
Weight 270 pounds

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Oklahoma favored to land 2025 defensive lineman out of Florida

Oklahoma Sooners favored to land underrated 2025 defensive lineman out of Florida.

After a fantastic 2024 defensive line haul that netted [autotag]David Stone[/autotag], [autotag]Jayden Jackson[/autotag], [autotag]Nigel Smith[/autotag], [autotag]Danny Okoye[/autotag] and [autotag]Wyatt Gilmore[/autotag], the Oklahoma Sooners have done a nice job adding talent upfront in the [autotag]2025 recruiting class[/autotag].

With five months until the early signing period, the Sooners have commitments from [autotag]C.J. Nickson[/autotag], [autotag]Trent Wilson[/autotag], [autotag]Ka’Mori Moore[/autotag] and [autotag]Alexander Shieldknight[/autotag]. They will bolster a deep unit when they arrive in Norman. It doesn’t look like [autotag]Todd Bates[/autotag] is through by any stretch of the imagination.

The Sooners have been in pursuit of Rivals four-star defensive lineman Floyd Boucard and, on Wednesday evening, earned a trio of crystal ball predictions from 247Sports recruiting insiders Tom Loy, Brian Dohm and Collin Kennedy of Sooners Illustrated.

 

Boucard is a 6-foot-3, 315-pound defensive tackle prospect who has only played football for a few years. He grew up in Canada playing hockey and the agility and athleticism required is clear.

He’s a dynamic disruptor who plays both defensive tackle and defensive end in three-man fronts for Miami Central. Boucard shows off a really nice first step off the line of scrimmage and great lateral agility. He’s strong and has good play speed for the position. When asked to play in a two-gap call on defense, he does a great job staying disciplined in the system and is fantastic at shedding blocks.

Though considered a three-star prospect by 247Sports and On3, Boucard has a chance to have his ranking climb during his senior season. He has all of the ability teams are looking for from a defensive lineman and has the versatility, ability, and experience to play multiple spots at the next level.

Boucard is set to make his commitment decision on July 20 and looks to be choosing among USC, Miami and Alabama.

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Oklahoma included in top 4 for 2025 four-star defensive lineman

Oklahoma was included in the top four for Rivals four-star defensive tackle Floyd Boucard.

As they continue to build their defensive tackle ranks for the new world in the SEC, the Oklahoma Sooners have been in pursuit of Rivals four-star defensive tackle [autotag]Floyd Boucard[/autotag].

Boucard, out of Miami, Florida, has narrowed his recruitment to four schools. The 6-foot-3, 315-pound defensive tackle trimmed his list to the Sooners, Alabama Crimson Tide, USC Trojans and Miami Hurricanes.

Predictions from On3’s Steve Wiltfong and 247Sports Tom Loy favor the USC Trojans in Boucard’s recruitment, but the Sooners remain in the mix.

He holds offers from more than 20 Power Four programs, including Georgia, LSU, Penn State, Oregon, Florida, Florida State, Ole Miss, Missouri and Colorado.

Currently, the Sooners have two interior defensive linemen committed to their [autotag]2025 recruiting class[/autotag]: [autotag]Ka’Mori Moore[/autotag] and [autotag]Trent Wilson[/autotag]. The Sooners are still hoping to add defensive end [autotag]Kade Pietrzak[/autotag] to their ranks as well.

Though Boucard may not go their way, the Sooners still have some big-time prospects pledged to join them in 2025.

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Sooners defensive line target Smith Orogbo commits to Texas

Sooners 2025 four-star defensive end target commits to the Texas Longhorns.

The Oklahoma Sooners are still working to add defensive line depth for the 2025 recruiting class. Though they’ve earned commitments from interior defensive linemen [autotag]Trent Wilson[/autotag] and [autotag]Ka’Mori Moore[/autotag] and defensive ends [autotag]Alexander Shieldnight[/autotag] and [autotag]C.J. Nickson[/autotag], the defensive staff had been in pursuit of other players on the edge.

After missing on [autotag]Max Granville[/autotag], who chose Penn State, the Sooners turned their attention to [autotag]Smith Orogbo[/autotag]. At the time, it appeared Oklahoma might pull off a recruiting win over Texas Tech. However, it’s the Sooners’ Red River rivals who are adding the dynamic edge rusher.

On Monday, Orogbo committed to the Texas Longhorns. He’s a talented pass rusher with significant upside due to his fantastic athleticism.

The Sooners still have a dynamic defensive end duo in Shieldnight and Nickson to build the future of their defensive end group around, and they are well within the top 10 recruiting classes in the country as we enter July.

The Sooners turn their attention to securing commitments from [autotag]Cortez Mills[/autotag] and [autotag]Omarion Robinson[/autotag] along with priority offensive line targets [autotag]Michael Fasusi[/autotag], [autotag]Lamont Rogers[/autotag], [autotag]Andrew Babalola[/autotag], and [autotag]Ty Haywood[/autotag].

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4-star edge C.J. Nickson commits to the Oklahoma Sooners

Four-star defensive end C.J. Nickson chooses the Oklahoma Sooners over the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

The Oklahoma Sooners [autotag]2025 recruiting class[/autotag] is coming together as we reach the middle of the summer, less than six months away from the early signing period.

After adding a pair of four-star wide receivers over the last week, it’s the defense’s turn. Four-star defensive end [autotag]C.J. Nickson[/autotag] committed to the Oklahoma Sooners.

Nickson chose the Sooners over Bedlam rival Oklahoma State. He’s a legit two-sport star who plans to play basketball for Porter Moser and the men’s basketball squad.

ESPN and 247Sports consider Nickson a top-100 prospect in the 2025 class and consider the Weatherford, Oklahoma, native the No. 1 player in the state of Oklahoma.

With his ability on the hardwood, Nickson flashes elite athleticism and playmaking off the edge.

Here’s what we had to say about Nickson in April.

His length is a problem for offensive tackles and he has the quickness and agility to be a plus pass rusher at the collegiate level. He plays both ways for Weatherford, also starring at wide receiver, where he racked up 604 yards and eight touchdowns on 36 receptions in 2023. – Williams, Sooners Wire

The Sooners are building a blue-chip defensive front and the edge group Miguel Chavis is putting together added a difference-maker in Nickson.

Nickson joins a defensive line class that includes defensive tackles [autotag]Ka’Mori Moore[/autotag] and [autotag]Trent Wilson[/autotag] and defensive end [autotag]Alexander Shieldknight[/autotag]. The Sooners are still working to add a four-star defensive end from North Dakota, [autotag]Kade Pietrzak[/autotag].

With 18 commitments in the cycle, the Sooners have the No. 5 recruiting class, according to 247Sports.

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5-star OT Michael Fasusi headlines official visitors list for Norman this weekend

Oklahoma is set to host a number of uncommitted prospects headlined by five-star offensive tackle Michael Fasusi in Norman this weekend.

Official visit season is in full swing, and Norman will see a number of visitors throughout June. Last week, the Sooners hosted several prospects and this weekend is no different.

Right now, the Sooners are ranked No. 7 overall in recruiting for the class of 2025 and trail the USC Trojans. Things are far from over, and there is a real chance that Oklahoma could find itself in the top five when all is said and done for the 2025 cycle.

Last week, names like [autotag]Kade Pietrzak[/autotag], [autotag]Daris Afalava[/autotag], and [autotag]Da’Saahn Brahme[/autotag] visited Norman, hoping to learn how they would fit into life as Oklahoma Sooner student-athletes.

Things went well for Pietrzak. Multiple predictions came in earlier this week favoring the Sooners. Afalava included the Sooners in his top four that he released on Wednesday. So, the visits have paid dividends.

There’s a lot more to be excited about this weekend. Below, we’ve rounded up all the names expected to be in Norman for official visits.

  • [autotag]Michael Fasusi[/autotag], five-star OT
  • [autotag]Cortez Mills[/autotag], four-star WR
  • [autotag]Mark Iheanachor[/autotag], four-star LB
  • [autotag]Elijah Melendez[/autotag], three-star LB (committed to the Miami Hurricanes)
  • [autotag]Trent Wilson[/autotag], three-star DT commit
  • [autotag]Marcus Harris[/autotag], four-star WR
  • [autotag]Makhi Williams-Lee[/autotag], three-star DT
  • [autotag]Floyd Boucard[/autotag], three-star DT

We also wanted to share a few important notes about the visitors. Let’s start with Michael Fasusi, the highest-rated player set to touch down in Norman this weekend. Fasusi’s recruitment has always been between the big schools in Texas and Oklahoma. Things seem to be trending the Longhorns direction, so in many ways, this weekend feels like Oklahoma’s final push to sway things in their direction in a big way. Oklahoma has a few five-star offensive tackles they are in on, and landing one would be a significant boost to this class and a big personal win for offensive line coach [autotag]Bill Bedenbaugh[/autotag].

Iheanachor and Melendez are pivotal recruits because Oklahoma does not have a single linebacker committed for the class of 2025. Both are inside linebackers and will play that position in college. Oklahoma would love to land a commitment from either of them to give them a little depth inside heading into next year. Both are intense, physically fearless players who use instincts to dole out punishment.

Marcus Harris was a late add, but he hails from California, where he plays ball at the famous Mater Dei High School. The West Coast recruitment effect is real with him, but Emmett Jones got Harris to cancel his visit to Oregon and come to Norman instead. That may be a situation to monitor.

Boucard and Williams-Lee will accompany Trent Wilson, the lone Oklahoma commit of the weekend. Wilson will work to convince the other defensive tackles to join him in Norman.

Oklahoma has a weekend ahead of itself. They’ll be rolling out the red carpet. Only time will tell how effective these visits were.

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Sooners No. 7 in ESPN’s recruiting class rankings for 2025

The Oklahoma Sooners have several high-profile recruitments still underway, but they’re in a great spot already in the 2025 recruiting cycle.

Recruiting is certainly a strong point for the Oklahoma Sooners under [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag]. On both sides of the ball, OU has landed blue chip prospects, including five-star players [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag] (2023), [autotag]Adepoju Adebawore[/autotag] (2023), [autotag]Peyton Bowen[/autotag] (2023), and [autotag]David Stone[/autotag] (2024).

It’s set the stage for the Sooners to contend when they make their move into the SEC. In the [autotag]2025 recruiting class[/autotag], the Sooners are already off to a great start with the summer recruiting season approaching. With 15 commitments, the Sooners sit No. 3 in the nation and No. 1 in the SEC in 247Sports team recruiting rankings.

And the Sooners are well within the top 10 of ESPN’s top 25 recruiting classes (ESPN+) for the 2025 cycle.

The Sooners’ first official class as a member of the SEC already has a strong foundation. It’s anchored by offensive firepower, including a pair of ESPN 300 wide receivers in [autotag]Elijah Thomas[/autotag] and [autotag]Gracen Harris[/autotag]. Harris is quick and has good hands. Thomas, an in-state commit, is a precise route-runner and offers a wide catch radius. Running back [autotag]Tory Blaylock[/autotag] can be an electric playmaker with excellent speed — he has registered a max speed north of 21 mph in games.

The Sooners stayed in-state to land [autotag]Kevin Sperry[/autotag] at QB. He has a quick release and good accuracy and threw for over 2,500 yards and completed 68% of his passes as a junior. In-state defensive end [autotag]Alexander Shieldnight[/autotag] has first-step quickness and active hands and tallied 11 sacks as a junior. While much of their class hails from OU’s primary recruiting base, [autotag]Trent Wilson[/autotag] was a nice win out of Maryland. He’s a defensive lineman with good initial quickness as well as agility, and he can be an active presence in the trenches. – Craig Haubert, ESPN

It’s a class that’s equally impressive on defense as it is on offense. Sperry has the chance to be every bit as impactful as the quarterbacks that Oklahoma’s brought on board over the last few years under Venables. His low-key recruitment has been an asset for the Sooners. With their quarterback committed, and helping peer recruit, the Sooners have been able to focus their efforts on an offensive line class that is as elite as 2024’s defensive line class was.

Even though Oklahoma’s experienced coordinator changes on both sides of the ball, they’ve continued to recruit at an incredibly high level. And with high-profile recruitments still to be decided along the offensive line and with five-star safety [autotag]Jonah Williams[/autotag], the Sooners have a chance to add another impactful class to the depth chart in 2025.

There’s still a long way to go in the 2025 cycle, but the Sooners are in a great spot. Any concerns about Brent Venables and his staff’s ability to recruit at Oklahoma are long gone.

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Oklahoma Sooners land prediction for 4-star defensive lineman

The Oklahoma Sooners continue to trend in a positive direction for 2025 interior defensive lineman Kole Briehler.

The Oklahoma Sooners are off to a great start with the [autotag]2025 recruiting class[/autotag]. The Sooners have already landed 13 commitments, and we haven’t even hit summer yet.

This is expected to be the smallest class since [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] took over, which means there aren’t many spots left. But they’re still working to land several more blue-chip prospects. On Tuesday, Rivals national recruiting director and rankings analyst Adam Friedman issued a futurecast favoring the Sooners for [autotag]Kole Briehler[/autotag].

[autotag]Kole Briehler[/autotag] is the No. 18 defensive lineman in 2025, according to Rivals, and the No. 7 player in the state of New Jersey. The three main players in his recruitment are the Sooners, the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Stanford Cardinals.

Now, that doesn’t mean other teams can’t make their way onto the field, but those three getting the most buzz. According to On3’s prediction machine, the Sooners hold a slight lead over the Buckeyes. Briehler also has notable offers from Miami, Virginia Tech, Duke, Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Syracuse, USC, West Virginia, Vanderbilt and Wisconsin.

He has official visits set up with all three schools in June; the Sooners get the last crack on June 21, 2024. That would be his third visit to Norman since November.

If the Sooners can earn his pledge, Briehler would join [autotag]Ka’Mori Moore[/autotag] and [autotag]Trent Wilson[/autotag] for the Sooners interior defensive line. Two of them would be coming from the Northeast.

There’s still a lot of time between now and the December early signing period but this would be a big recruiting win if [autotag]Todd Bates[/autotag] and company are able to pull it off.

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Recruiting predictions trending against Penn State for coveted DL target Trent Wilson

Penn State is fading in the rearview mirror for this four-star defensive lineman according to recruiting insiders.

Penn State may be considered one of the top four schools for a major recruiting target from Maryland, but the Nittany Lions appear to be trending in the wrong direction as the crystal ball predictions start to come in.

Trent Wilson, from Upper Marlboro, MD, is a four-star defensive lineman according to the various recruiting coverage outlets, and he is ranked as the no. 3 player overall in Maryland. Naturally, Penn State would be an interested school in obtaining his commitment, and Penn State has been active in his recruiting process. However, less than a week after unveiling his top four schools, there appears to be a favorite rising to the top as he nears a decision, and it’s not in Penn State’s favor.

Two crystal ball predictions have now been recorded on 247Sports, and each predicts Oklahoma to be the winner for a commitment of Wilson. One prediction comes from an Oklahoma recruiting insider and the other comes from a national recruiting analyst, giving the Sooners a pretty definitive edge in this process.

The On3 recruiting prediction machine currently calculates a 94.3% chance of Wilson going to Oklahoma with a few more predictions being recorded this past week. That percentage is up a few points since Wilson unveiled his top four teams.

This would be another tough blow for Penn State on the recruiting trail in the Class of 2024. This past week saw Penn State swing and miss on the top in-state quarterback in the Class of 2025, Matt Zollers. Penn State has already missed out on the top player in the state as well with edge rusher Zahir Mathis previously committing to Big Ten rival Ohio State. Penn State is still holding on to one fo the top-ranked recruiting classes in the Big Ten and the nation, and there are plenty of in-state recruiting targets still to be had for the Nittany Lions, but Penn State could use a bit of a reversal of fortune right now after a brief tough stretch of recruiting headlines.

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