West Virginia DL transfer Mike Lockhart commits to SMU
West Virginia defensive lineman Mike Lockhart committed to SMU after an official visit to SMU on Saturday, he told On3. The 6-3, 308-pounder has one year of eligibility remaining and is ready to spend it in Dallas.
“We’re in the heart of Dallas,” Lockhart told On3. “They having something special going on there and I want to add to it. They showed me I would be valuable and cared for there. It’s more than football, it’s about being a family and being added to the SMU culture for life.”
Lockhart just finished his second season with the Mountaineers after he spent his first three at Georgia Tech. In his pair of campaigns in Morgantown, Lockhart posted 34 tackles and 2.5 sacks. The 21 tackles and 2.5 sacks came this fall, which put him in the top-five on the team in that statistic. He also blocked TCU’s game-winning field goal attempt this fall.
Over his five collegiate seasons, Lockhart has 61 tackles, 13 tackles for loss and three sacks to his name.
Lockhart played high school football at Huffman (AL) where he was a three-star prospect. He was the No. 796 overall recruit in the 2019 cycle according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He finished as a Top-100 DL as well as a Top-50 player out of Alabama.
SMU beat out programs like Boston College, Washington, Colorado and others after him.
Lockhart adds to SMU’s momentum in the transfer portal
Lockhart joins Miami EDGE Jahfari Harvey, Georgia defensive lineman Jonathan Jefferson and Oregon wide receiver Ashton Cozart as commitments for SMU from the NCAA Transfer Portal. The window for transfers opened on Dec. 4 and the Mustangs are hard at work hoping to assemble a quality roster for their first season of ACC play in 2024.
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To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire.
The portal has been around since Oct. 15, 2018 and the new calendar cycle within the portal begins each August. For example, the 2021-22 cycle started Aug. 1. During the 2020-21 cycle, 2,626 FBS football players entered the transfer portal (including walk-ons). That comes after 1,681 entered during the 2019-20 cycle and 1,709 during the abbreviated 2018-19 cycle. In comparison, 1,833 Division I basketball players entered the portal during the 2020-21 cycle after totals of 1,020 in 2019-20 and 1,063 in 2018-19.
