It took a little while, but Oklahoma finally secured a tight end in the transfer market... and they got a guy that certainly isn't going to take the opportunity to be a Sooner for granted.

Former Kennesaw State walk-on Carson Kent, a two-year starter for the Owls who recorded 317 yards and three touchdowns in 2024, has committed to Oklahoma. He's the first tight end addition of the portal cycle for the Sooners, and announced his decision shortly after official visits to Oklahoma and West Virginia. For Kent, a conversation in Brent Venables' office made him realize that his story isn't unlike that of Venables' story, nor is it historically uncommon for Oklahoma greats to come from humble beginnings.

“Him and I kind of resonated in a way, just how he had to fight for a spot and basically ‘crawl on’ at Kansas State,” Kent told OUInsider.com. “I’m a walk-on. I walked on at Kennesaw State; that was my only walk-on opportunity coming out of high school, because I was an undersized kid. That means I was under-recruited. No one was willing to give me a shot except Kennesaw State, and I took that opportunity and ran with it. I took a PWO and redshirted my first year, and the last two years, I was able to start. Just hearing his story and knowing the history of Oklahoma walk-ons, seeing Baker [Mayfield]’s walk-on trophy in the middle of the opening hallway, it was something really cool.”

At 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds, Kent has ideal size for the position, and he pairs that frame with exceptional venom as a blocker and soft hands as a pass-catcher. He'll contend with Kaden Helms, Kade McIntyre and Davon Mitchell for the starting role at tight end come 2025, and that role could be of significant importance within Ben Arbuckle's scheme.

“They want to get into 11, 12 personnel [with] the new offensive coordinator coming in,” Kent said of Oklahoma. “I wasn’t able to take a deep dive into the offense because they’re still prepping for their bowl game and the new offensive coordinator hasn’t installed his offense yet, but they were just showing me all that they’ve done with tight ends — Mark Andrews and all the people that have come through the program. Just showing me that I can be that next guy, and just selling me on the vision of Oklahoma was the big thing.

“Since I was on a very short visit, I was supposed to meet with [Arbuckle], but I met with the head coach for so long that I didn’t get to meet with him. I obviously talked with [Arbuckle] for a good bit, but wasn’t able to sit down and take a deep dive into his offense. But we’ll probably have a Zoom meeting sometime, and he’ll really explain to me what my role would be.”

Kent is the Sooners' eighth total addition in the portal cycle, joining a group headlined by coveted Washington State quarterback transfer John Mateer. Also in the fold are offensive tackles Derek Simmons and Luke Baklenko, wide receivers Javonnie Gibson, Isaiah Sategna and Keontez Lewis, and punter Jacob Ulrich.

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