Two More North Texas Defenders Are Headed to Stillwater

PORTAL TRACKER

The Mean Green’s migration north continues.

Oklahoma State announced the signings of defensive linemen Fatafehi Vailea II and safety Evan Jackson on Monday afternoon, bringing the official tally of UNT players transferring to OSU to 14.

Here’s a little bit about the latest pair of defenders.

Vailea

Vailea, a 6-foot-1, 292-pound defensive lineman, had spent his entire college career at North Texas to this point, going all the way back to his redshirt year in 2021.

He was a redshirt senior in 2025 but played in just four games before suffering a season-ending injury. He was still impactful in those four games, finishing with 15 tackles, which included a 10-tackle performance against Army — a rare feat for a defensive lineman.

From UNT’s 2022 season through its 2024 season, Vailea played in 38 games and made 26 starts. For his career, he has recorded 118 tackles, six tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks.

He got to Denton by way of Desert Pines High School in Las Vegas, but his hometown is listed as Oakland, California. He was a three-star prospect in the 2021 recruiting class and chose UNT over offers from San Diego State, Nevada and others.

Vailea is the second UNT defensive lineman to join the Cowboys, along with Keviyan Huddleston.

Jackson

A 5-foot-11, 183-pound safety from Houston, Evan Jackson was at North Texas for Morris’ entire tenure in Denton.

He’s played in every game for each of the past three seasons and brings 130 career tackles and six career interceptions with him to Stillwater. He’s also had 2.5 tackles for loss, a sack and seven PBUs.

247Sports considers Jackson the No. 471 player in the transfer portal and a Top 50 safety available.

He played high school ball at North Shore in Houston and was an All-State selection as a senior, finishing the year with 62 tackles, four tackles for loss and seven PBUs. He was a three-star high school prospect and chose UNT over offers from Marshall, Grambling State and others.

Jackson is the fourth defensive back the Cowboys have added from the portal and the third from North Texas. He joins corners Kanijal Thomas (Kansas State) and Kollin Lewis (North Texas) and safety Quinton Hammonds (North Texas).