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Oklahoma OT Stacey Wilkins Plans to Enter the NCAA Transfer Portal

Sooners offensive line depth takes a hit as young backup announces on Facebook he intends to seek other opportunities.
John E. Hoover|
Oklahoma OT Stacey Wilkins Plans to Enter the NCAA Transfer Portal
Oklahoma OT Stacey Wilkins Plans to Enter the NCAA Transfer Portal

Oklahoma’s outstanding offensive line depth just took a hit.

Offensive tackle Stacey Wilkins, who last season was projected as a potential starter before opting out of 2020, announced via social media that he plans to enter the NCAA transfer portal.

Wilkins, still a redshirt freshman from Camden, AR, who still has four years college eligibility left, never could break into the lineup although head coach Lincoln Riley and offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh frequently talked him up.

Bedenbaugh told reporters this spring that Wilkins was more engaged than he’d ever been, seeking more and more feedback on his performance during practice.

“We just moved him back to left tackle” early in the spring, Bedenbaugh said, “and he’s had the three best practices that he’s had since he’s been here.”

The 6-foot-6, 316-pound Wilkins moved to right tackle as a true freshman in 2019 but couldn’t crack the two-deep. He competed with left tackle Erik Swenson and right tackle Adrian Ealy in the 2020 offseason before opting out. He moved back to the left side, but that job was taken by Tennessee transfer Wanya Morris.

“It’s really a weird situation just because he just looks better at left tackle,” Bedenbaugh said. “In the beginning, we needed him at right tackle because we were experimenting with other things, and seeing how he could do over there. Then we moved some other guys back to right tackle, wanted to get him reps.

“He’s a natural left tackle, and he’s had three really good practices. I feel really good about him.”

Wilkins thanked Riley, Bedenbaugh and strength coach Bennie Wylie “for providing me with the opportunity and instilling life lessons in me that will carry throughout life.

“I will forever bleed Crimson and Cream regardless of where GOD takes me.”

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. 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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