On Wednesday night, new Utah Utes wide receivers coach Chad Bumphis sent what appeared to be a “bat signal” tweet that the program had just picked up a commitment.
A short time later, Washington transfer safety Brandon McKinney announced his pledge to the program, but that may not have been the reason for Bumphis’ tweet, as on Thursday afternoon, Utah announced it has signed Oklahoma Sooners transfer wide receiver Theo Howard.
Welcome to the #UBoyz, @theohoward2!
— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) May 20, 2021
Signed 📝 pic.twitter.com/b4O4YMrqzL
This marks the second time in Howard’s career that he has transferred, as he began at UCLA before leaving for Oklahoma. A California native, the 6-foot, 182-pound Howard played in 34 games over four years at UCLA (he redshirted in 2019 after playing one game), tallying 119 receptions for 1,459 yards and nine touchdowns.
In his lone season at Oklahoma in 2020, he finished with 13 receptions for 163 yards with no touchdowns.
Howard had entered the transfer portal in February. He becomes the second former Sooner to transfer to Utah this offseason, as running back T.J. Pledger also committed to the Utes.
According to 247 Sports’ rankings, Howard was the 13th-ranked wide receiver prospect in the country coming out of high school in 2016.