Star Oklahoma WR announcing he's returning for 2026 season

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The Oklahoma Sooners will be getting a big boost in the form of a returning star for the 2026 season. Leading wide receiver Isaiah Sategna III is returning to OU for his senior season next year, according to Matt Zenitz of 247Sports. Sategna paced the Sooners with 67 catches for 965 yards and eight touchdowns this past season, and he was certainly a candidate to enter the 2026 NFL Draft. Instead, he’ll come back to OU for one more year.

The 2025 season was Sategna’s first in Norman, after he spent three seasons at Arkansas. He redshirted in 2022, and played in 12 games in 2023, making one start. In 2024, he played in 12 more games for the Razorbacks, starting 10. His breakout season came with the Sooners as a redshirt junior, and he’ll now come back to help what should be an improved offense in 2026.

Sategna joins newcomers Trell Harris (from Virginia) and Parker Livingstone (from Texas) as the likely starters at the three wide receiver spots for next season. Oklahoma also added Washington State transfer Mackenzie Allen in the transfer portal. With two days left before the portal closes, the Sooners would also like to retain Jer’Michael Carter, Jacob Jordan, Elijah Thomas, Manny Choice, Trey Brown and Eli Merck from last year’s roster. OU also added Daniel Odom, Xavier Okwufulueze, Jayden Petit, and Jahsiear Rogers in the 2026 recruiting class.

Wide receiver will look a lot different in 2026 for the Sooners. Deion Burks, Keontez Lewis, and Major Melson are all out of eligibility. There has been a portal exodus at the wideout spot, as Oklahoma has seen Jayden Gibson, Javonnie Gibson, Zion Kearney, Zion Ragins, Ivan Carreon, KJ Daniels, Josiah Martin, and Jakeb Snyder all make the decision to transfer out. All but Kearney, Carreon, and Snyder have found their new home at this point.

Sategna was really the only reliable game-breaking threat for the Sooners at wide receiver at times last year, and his big touchdowns against Missouri and LSU in the final two games of the regular season helped Oklahoma make the College Football Playoff. Wideout is a position that has underachieved over the past couple of seasons, but Sategna did everything he could last year. His return is a big one for the Sooners, and he’ll likely not have to carry as big of a load in 2026.

The singular 2026 transfer portal window closes on Friday night, and aside from losing players who have exhausted their college eligibility, and losing players to the NFL Draft, the Sooners won’t really be seeing any more exits from their roster after the next two days. While their 2026 high school recruiting class is currently complete, OU can still add players from the portal, even after the window closes. In summation, it all means that once the portal is closed, we’ll have a pretty good idea of what the Sooners have, at least on paper, as they head into the 2026 season.

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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Star OU wideout returning to school for senior season

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