Former Arkansas running back and track star Josh Oglesby has found his new home.
About a month after entering the transfer portal, the two-sport athlete announced Tuesday that he’d be transferring down to the FCS level to play at Stephen F. Austin in his home state.
The Lumberjacks are a nationally ranked FCS team that reached the playoffs this season. The school is located in Nacogdoches, Texas, which is less than three hours from his hometown of Katy.
As a freshman on the Razorbacks’ track team, Oglesby earned first-team All-America honors as the opening leg of Arkansas’ 4x100-meter relay team that finished fourth at the NCAA Championships and also ran the 10th-fastest 60-meter dash in UA history (6.74 seconds) at the SEC Indoor Championships.
Following his sophomore year, the former BYU football commit and two-star recruit decided to get back on the gridiron and had a connection with the Arkansas staff thanks to his father’s friendship with the father of Clemson transfer Xavier Kelly.
Although he received steady praise from coaches and teammates throughout fall camp, Oglesby never got a chance to play in 2020 because he suffered a season-ending foot injury before the season.
Healthy again this season, the 5-foot-8, 175-pound running back failed to crack the rotation and his only appearance came late in the Razorbacks’ blowout win over Georgia Southern. He gained 17 yards on three carries.
With Dominique Johnson, Rocket Sanders, AJ Green and Javion Hunt set to return next season, plus four-star prospect Rashod Dubinion and three-star prospect James Jointer entering the fold as freshmen and the possibility of Trelon Smith returning as a super senior, playing time likely would have been tough to come by again in 2022.
Asked about his departure last month, head coach Sam Pittman said he fully supported Oglesby’s decision.
“I have a high respect for him,” Pittman said. “It was, ‘Coach, I know my situation on the depth chart. I’ve got a lot of speed. I think I can go help somebody and play. I know where I’m at here. What do you think?’ And I said, ‘I think that’s exactly what the portal’s for.’”
Arkansas’ only other scholarship player to enter the portal since the start of the season was freshman defensive tackle Solomon Wright, who went in after the end of the regular season. He has not yet announced his next destination.
