OSU Safety Thomas Harper Commits to Notre Dame

PORTAL TRACKER

OSU safety Thomas Harper has officially transferred out of the program after announcing his intentions to do so early last month, as the long-time defensive back announced Friday he has committed to joining Notre Dame. The Friday commitment came just days after he took an on-campus visit to the school.

Harper signed with OSU in 2019 out of Knoxville as a three-star athlete joining the program as the younger brother of OSU linebacker Devin Harper. The younger Harper played in 36 career games and twice — in 2022 and in 2020 — had 30-tackle seasons. He began his career at corner before shifting to safety the second half of his tenure.

This past season Harper was a mainstay on the back end of the rebuilt defense under Derek Mason where he totaled 30 tackles — tied for a career-high — despite playing in only seven games. He also added two pass deflections, one interception and 1.5 tackles for loss. His INT came against Baylor on the road on Oct. 1 as the Cowboys successfully defeated the Bears — the team who killed their conference and national title hopes a season ago.

Of the 15 scholarship players leaving the program, Harper is one of two who played the safety position this season but one of eight defensive players who are on the outs. Several of those are also defensive backs that played corner including starter Jabbar Muhammad and Demarco Jones. Star linebacker Mason Cobb is also transferring out after announcing recently he will join Lincoln Riley at USC.