Lyrik Rawls, Willie Nelson Announce They’ll Enter Transfer Portal

TRANSFER PORTAL TRACKER

Ahead of the transfer portal opening on Monday, more announcements are trickling out about players’ intentions to hop in.

A pair of Oklahoma State defensive backs announced Wednesday that they will hop in the portal — Lyrik Rawls and Willie Nelson. They’re the third and fourth Cowboys to announced they’re going in the portal, joining offensive lineman Jason Brooks Jr. and wide receiver Da’Wain Lofton.

A redshirt junior with the Cowboys this past season, Rawls played in all 12 of OSU’s games, recording 23 tackles to go with an interception and a trio of pass breakups. Rawls had a strong close to the 2022 season as a redshirt freshman and started the opening three games of the 2023 season before an ill-timed injury forced him to miss the remainder of the year. He was a three-star prospect in the 2021 recruiting class, picking OSU over offers from Arizona, Mississippi State, Indiana, Missouri, Ole Miss, TCU, Texas Tech and others.

Nelson was a true freshman this season who was removed from the Cowboys’ roster in the middle of the year. He was a three-star recruit in OSU’s 2024 recruiting class and picked OSU over offers from Oklahoma, Colorado, SMU and others.

This transfer portal window is expected to be a busy one nationwide. That could particularly be the case in Stillwater, as reports started to come out Wednesday that OSU was parting ways with coordinators Kasey Dunn and Bryan Nardo. There is a settlement expected to be approved that would cut roster limits down to 105 players, another factor that could cause it to be a particularly busy window.