After a year with the University of South Carolina Football team, tight end Austin Stogner (Plano Prestonwood Christian) is returning to his original school, opting to transfer back to the Oklahoma Sooners for his final collegiate season.
Stogner spent three years at Oklahoma and was the team’s starting tight end. After head coach Lincoln Riley and most of his staff left Norman for the University of Southern California last November, Stogner and quarterback Spencer Rattler both transferred to South Carolina.
Rattler praised Stogner after his performance in an October win over Texas A&M saying, “I told him I was going to get him the rock tonight. Any matchup he was one-on-one I was gonna put it up to him. That’s nothing new for him. I love throwing to him.”
In his only season in Columbia, Stogner started 10 games and caught 20 passes for 210 yards and a touchdown as part of an elite tight end tandem with Jaheim Bell. His 210 receiving yards were the fifth-most on the team and second-most among tight ends.
Stogner’s most productive season so far came at Oklahoma in 2020, when he had 26 catches for 422 yards and three touchdowns and was named second-team All-Big 12. He played in 34 games across his first three seasons with the Sooners accumulating 654 yards and eight touchdowns.
Stogner signed his letter of intent for his first stint at Oklahoma in December 2018 as part of the university’s 2019 recruiting class after a standout career at Prestonwood Christian Academy in Plano. He was a four-star recruit ranked among the top 100 players in the country and the top three among tight ends. He was also invited to the All-American Bowl.
The current transfer portal window has only been open since Monday, but Stogner made his decision quickly. Now, he returns to the Sooners program to play for Brent Venables as a graduate student with one year of eligibility remaining.
He should see plenty of playing time as starting tight end Brayden Willis is set to graduate and enter the NFL.