Oklahoma Sooners can breathe a sigh of relief after David Stone's transfer portal decision keeps their offseason momentum rolling
The Oklahoma Sooners have been on pins and needles since defensive tackle David Stone's sudden decision on Friday to enter the transfer portal. Nobody saw a move like this coming after Stone's dominant spring. Stone was set to be the starting three-technique for the Sooners in 2025 after an encouraging 2024 season. His sudden departure […]
The Oklahoma Sooners have been on pins and needles since defensive tackle David Stone's sudden decision on Friday to enter the transfer portal. Nobody saw a move like this coming after Stone's dominant spring.
Stone was set to be the starting three-technique for the Sooners in 2025 after an encouraging 2024 season. His sudden departure exposed Oklahoma's depth on the defensive line for the future, and he had the highest ceiling of any Sooners defender on the roster.
However, on Saturday morning, Stone had met with the staff again as they looked to find any way to get him to stay. Since that meeting, there was a lot of cautious optimism from Oklahoma's side that they had worked it out, but people were afraid to jinx it.
Whatever they said worked, as Stone himself announced that he will be withdrawing his name from the transfer portal and sticking with the Sooners for the foreseeable future.
It's impossible to overstate how much of a victory this is for Oklahoma. As I stated above, Stone has the chance to be one of Oklahoma's best defensive players of the last several years with his upside. He's frequently drawn Gerald McCoy comparisons with his talent. Keeping a player like that around is a massive victory for Brent Venables and Jim Nagy as they shape the roster to turn things around in 2025. Stone's return reaffirms Oklahoma's standing as one of the best defensive lines in college football.
This decision, along with adding Jake Maikkula and Jaydn Ott out of the portal, has the Sooners rolling with plenty of momentum heading into the summer. The Sooners will look to add a few more names here before the spring portal window closes, particularly at tight end.
