Huskies Pursue Another Pitt Player, Offer Young Edge Rusher

Originally posted on FanNation Husky Maven | By Dan Raley | Last updated 12/7/23

Edge rusher Samuel Okunlola could become the second Pittsburgh player in three years to join the University of Washington football team through the transfer portal after receiving an offer on Tuesday from the Huskies.

Okunlola, a 6-foot-4, 245-pound redshirt freshman from Brockton, Mass., was an encouraging development during an otherwise drab season for a 3-9 ACC team, leading the Panthers with 5 sacks.

However, Pitt couldn't keep him and schools coast to coast are now pursuing a fairly mobile player with three seasons of eligibility remaining. Besides the Huskies, Okunlola has offers from a dozen schools, topped by Florida State, USC, Ole Miss, Missouri, Arkansas and Michigan State among others.

When Kalen DeBoer took over as the UW football coach for the 2022 season, one of the first players his staff added from the portal was Panthers linebacker Cam Bright, who became a season-long starter for an 11-2 Husky team.

Okunlola came to Pitt after receiving more than 50 scholarship offers while playing at the Thayer Academy in Massachusetts. His football success has not been unusual for his family. His younger brother Samson was a 5-star defensive-line recruit who currently is a freshman at Miami.

For the Panthers, Okunlola put on 30 pounds after arriving on campus, played in four games as a freshman in 2022 and was poised for a breakout season this past fall.

He came off the bench for the first 10 games before the coaching staff made him a starter for the last two matchups against Boston College and Duke.

In his starting debut, Okunlola came up a pair of tackles, including a sack, in Pitt's 24-16 upset win. He finished with 18 tackles, including 6 tackles for loss and those 5 sacks, plus a forced fumble.

If Okunlola chooses to come to the UW, he would give DeBoer's team bookend edge rushers with Massachusetts connections.

Redshirt freshman Lance Holtzclaw came to the Huskies from Arizona, but he originally was raised in Dorchester, just outside of Boston, which is 20 miles from Brockton, Okunlola's hometown.

This article first appeared on FanNation Husky Maven and was syndicated with permission.

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