The Oklahoma Sooners have finally started to add players out of the transfer portal after a flurry of departures over the last two weeks. On Wednesday, they added to their most impacted position room, nabbing wide receiver transfer Javonnie Gibson. Gibson played for Arkansas Pine-Bluff.
The Sooners beat out schools like Clemson, SMU, Penn State, North Carolina, Colorado, and Oklahoma State to secure Gibson’s commitment.
Last season at Arkansas Pine-Bluff, Gibson racked up 1,215 yards and nine touchdowns on a dreadful offense. He finished fourth in the FCS last season in receiving yards.
After a mass exodus in the wide receiver room at the beginning of the portal cycle, Oklahoma needed to restock their receiving corps. The Sooners lost Nic Anderson, Andrel Anthony, JJ Hester, Jaquaize Pettaway, and Jalil Farooq to the transfer portal, and the only returning wideouts with more than one season of experience are Deion Burks and Jayden Gibson.
At 6’3, 205 pounds, Gibson brings some much-needed size and contested catch ability that the Sooners desperately need. Throughout much of the 2024 season, Oklahoma started the 5’10 Brenen Thompson and 5’9 Zion Ragins on the outside. It’s just a funny coincidence that the Sooners will now have two J. Gibson’s in the wide receiver room.
While we have yet to see the rest of Oklahoma’s moves in the portal, it’s clear to me that Gibson will be a regular contributor in the offense. The Sooners moved quickly to snag him out of the portal and refused to let him leave elsewhere. With how much attrition has affected their receiving corps, it’s a good move on their part to invest so much so early in fixing it.
Could this be a sign of things to come for the Sooners out of the transfer portal? This could be the first of many over the next week.