Oklahoma State Beats Out Power Five Schools to Secure West Georgia D-Lineman Malik Charles

TRANSFER PORTAL TRACKER

The Cowboys beat out a handful of other power conference programs to secure the commitment from an FCS defensive lineman.

Malik Charles, a 6-foot-5, 255-pound West Georgia transfer, announced Tuesday that he committed to Oklahoma State. Charles also announced portal offers to Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Arizona State and others.

I wanna thank God for putting me in the position to get an opportunity like this. I wanna thank all the coaches that offered me an opportunity to play for their school. With that being said I have committed to Oklahoma State #GoPokes @CoachRyanOsborn @CoachGundy @CoachTGrantham pic.twitter.com/kFDCpldv7e

— Malik Charles 🇹🇴 (@Malik_Charles_) December 17, 2024

For West Georgia in 2024, Charles made 33 tackles, including 10 tackles for loss and seven sacks. He also recorded two pass breakups and a trio of quarterback hurries. Before his time with West Georgia, Charles played at Northern Arizona in 2023, recording four tackles. His is from Tempe, Arizona, and attended Arizona Compass Prep, where Charles competed not only in football, but also in basketball and volleyball.

Charles becomes the sixth commitment the Cowboys have secured out of the portal thus far and the second defensive player — joining Akron linebacker transfer Bryan McCoy. OSU has also secured portal commitments from offensive linemen Kasen Carpenter (Tulsa) and Lavaka Taukeiaho (Weber State), tight end Jordan Owens (Central Arkansas), and running back Kalib Hicks (Oklahoma).

Charles joins a defensive line room that has, like most of OSU’s program, gone through some change this offseason. The position group is set to be coached by former Charlotte defensive coordinator Ryan Osborn, who OSU hired this offseason. The position group also lost quite a bit of production from last season, as Collin Oliver is headed to the NFL and guys like Kody Walterscheid, Obi Ezeigbo and Xavier Ross have all run out of eligibility.