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Oklahoma Lands Commitment from Transfer Portal Defensive Tackle

Siolaa "Ricky" Lolohea originally went to Oklahoma State out of high school before transferring to Utah State last season.
John Hoover|
Siolaa "Ricky" Lolohea
Siolaa "Ricky" Lolohea | Ricky Lolohea via Instagram (screenshot)

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Oklahoma Sooners

Two days after bringing back former 5-star defensive tackle David Stone from the transfer portal, Oklahoma landed a great depth piece at the same position.

Siolaa “Ricky” Lolohea, a redshirt freshman d-tackle at Utah State, visited OU over the weekend and committed to the Sooners on Tuesday night with an announcement on Twitter/X.

OU offered him a scholarship shortly after he formally entered the transfer portal on Friday.

The 6-foot-3, 305-pound Lolohea was a 3-star recruit at Euless (TX) Trinity when he signed with Oklahoma State. He redshirted in 2023 and did not appear in any games for the Cowboys.

He then transferred to Utah State, where he played in eight games last season with the Aggies, finishing the season with 10 tackles (six solo) and one tackle for loss. 

His best game was a three-tackle performance against No. 21-ranked Boise State.

At Utah State, Lolohea's defensive coordinator was new OU inside linebackers coach Nate Dreiling, who was also the team's interim head coach.

Lolohea is OU's third portal addition, joining Cal running back Jaydn Ott and Stanford center Jake Maikkula. The Sooners' spring portal departures stands at six.

Lolohea (pronounced Lo-lo-hey-uh) will provide immediate depth at a position of strength for the Sooners. 

Damonic Williams and Jayden Jackson are both slated to return as starters on the interior defensive line for coach Todd Bates, and Stone and Gracen Halton are the top backups. OU coaches and players also expect true freshman Trent Wilson to make an impact this fall.

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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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