Oklahoma Sooners must improve transfer portal strategy if they want to finally start winning in the SEC

Oklahoma's poor transfers costing them wins

Since the Sooners have joined the SEC, they have taken in 37 transfers in 2024 and 2025. Of those 37, I am willing to say that only six of them have worked out for Oklahoma at an SEC level: Damonic Williams, Deion Burks, Tate Sandell, Marvin Jones Jr, Isaiah Sategna, and Kendal Daniels. You can quibble over John Mateer to make it seven, but I won't consider him a good addition for the Sooners until he plays at an acceptable level. Regardless of if it's six or seven of 37, those are both still failing grades.

It's borderline malpractice to be that bad in the portal, and yet, the Sooners have managed it. For a staff that has managed to develop players at virtually every position, whiffing this routinely feels like a decision made more by whoever was in charge of Oklahoma's portal strategy before Nagy took over. It's embarrassing. It was a running joke that the Sooners were "too broke" to go pursue real talent in the portal, but the results practically reflect that (perhaps taking two OL from an awful Stanford team wasn't a winning strategy).

It might be too late to save Brent Venables' job. However, if I'm Jim Nagy, I'm aiming to completely overhaul Oklahoma's approach to the portal. Put pedal to the metal and be as aggressive as I can be in pursuing elite talents from across the Power 4. No more cheaping out. If they keep trying that approach, it might not be long before the Sooners are almost regarded as a joke in the SEC.