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Former Oklahoma QB Announces Entrance Into Transfer Portal

Ben Harris, who played for the Sooners in 2021 after winning four state championships Carl Albert, will be looking for his next school.
John Hoover|
Former Oklahoma quarterback Ben Harris at North Alabama.
Former Oklahoma quarterback Ben Harris at North Alabama. | North Alabama Athletics

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Oklahoma Sooners

A former Oklahoma quarterback is on the move again.

Ben Harris, a preferred walk-on in OU’s 2021 class who transferred to North Alabama, announced via Twitter/X on Thursday that he’ll be entering the NCAA Transfer again.

Harris, a Carl Albert product, played sparingly over the last three seasons.

“Thank you to UNA for the past 3 years,” he wrote. “Thank you to my teammates for the memories and relationships I will hold onto forever. Thank you to my coaches for always pushing me every day. Thank you Coach Dearman for allowing me to play and grow as a quarterback at UNA.   “Thank you to the Lord above for letting me play this sport and allowing me to be in this situation right now.

“With  that being said, it is in my best interest to enter the transfer portal for the 2025 season. I will have one year of eligibility left.”

Harris played in 16 games at North Alabama — 11 this season — and compiled 298 career passing yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. He also rushed for 133 yards and a TD on 28 rushes. Earlier this season, he caught a 19-yard touchdown pass on a double-screen-flea-flicker.

Harris played for Oklahoma after compiling a 52-2 record and winning four state championships as the starting QB at Carl Albert. His win total is a record for the state of Oklahoma.

He told Sooners On SI he wanted to play for OU’s “quarterback whisperer” and said, “my goal is to become a scholarship guy.” Instead, Harris spent one year at OU before heading to UNA.

During his senior year at Carl Albert, Harris completed 67.3 percent of his passes (169-of-251) for 2,215 yards with 22 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He also ran for 571 yards and five TDs.

Harris put up solid numbers throughout his high school career: 2,766 yards and 35 touchdowns with four interceptions in 2017), 2,361 yards and 20 TDs with six INTs in 2018 ), and 2,101 yards and 16 TDs with three INTs in 2019.

He also punted three years for the Titans.

Harris joined Lincoln Riley’s QB room as a reserve behind 2020 starter Spencer Rattler, 5-star freshman Caleb Williams and walk-on Ralph Rucker. He committed to OU one day after walk-on Micah Bowens announced his transfer to Norman from Penn State.

By the time Brent Venables began his first training camp in August 2022, all five of Riley’s QBs had moved on.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN 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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