Oklahoma Sees First Defensive Lineman Enter Transfer Portal in Winter Window

NORMAN — The transfer portal has been open for over a week now, but Oklahoma finally saw its first defensive lineman enter on Tuesday.

Ashton “Champ” Sanders, a redshirt freshman, entered the portal. Though Sanders is the first OU defensive lineman to enter the portal, he’s the seventh defensive player from Oklahoma to announce his departure.

Sanders came to Norman as a highly-touted defensive tackle from Pasadena, CA. He was a consensus 3-star recruit, and Rivals rated Sanders as the No. 27 defensive lineman in the Class of 2023. The defensive lineman chose Oklahoma over offers from California, Wisconsin, Colorado and Arizona State.

Sanders saw action in both of his seasons at OU but didn’t play a huge role.

Former Oklahoma DB Finds New Home at Kansas State

As a freshman, in 2023, Sanders played in three games. Sanders made one tackle and 0.5 tackles for loss that season, playing in the Sooners’ games against Arkansas State, Tulsa and Iowa State.

Sanders played in nine of the Sooners’ 12 regular-season games in 2024 but didn’t start any of them. He played on 47 downs between defense and special teams.

Despite his limited playing time in Norman, Sanders earned high grades on the defensive line, according to Pro Football Focus. He was graded at 65.9 in overall defense in 2023 before improving that grade to 69.6 in 2024.

Sanders joins defensive back Jayden Rowe, defensive back Kani Walker, defensive back Erik McCarty, defensive back Makari Vickers, linebacker Dasan McCullough and linebacker Phil Picciotti as Sooner defenders to enter the transfer portal during the winter window.

The brunt of Oklahoma's transfer portal hits have come on the offensive side of the ball. Key players like quarterback Jackson Arnold, wide receiver Nic Anderson, wide receiver Andrel Anthony and tight end Bauer Sharp, among others, have all entered the transfer portal in the last week.

This year's NCAA Transfer Portal officially opened on Monday, Dec. 9. To be eligible to play right away in 2025, players must enter their name into the transfer portal before Dec. 28. The spring portal window runs from April 16-25, 2025.

2024-25 Oklahoma Transfer Portal Tracker

Since the transfer portal opened, the Sooners have picked up commitments from Kennesaw State punter Jacob Ulrich and Stanford offensive lineman Luke Baklenko.

Oklahoma finished the 2024 season 6-6 (2-6 SEC) in its first year as a member of the Southeastern Conference. The Sooners will battle Navy on Dec. 27 at the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth.