North Texas had one last trick up its sleeve as it looked to bolster its defense heading into the 2024 season.
Former Oklahoma linebacker Shane Whitter is headed to UNT as a graduate transfer. He has two seasons of eligibility remaining.
Shane Whitter
The Mean Green announced a series of recruits had joined the team ahead of summer workouts on Monday. Several of those players made their intentions known weeks ago.
Whitter was the last member of the group — and the only surprise of the batch.
Whitter announced he would enter the transfer portal on April 16.
“I would like to thank Sooner nation for an unforgettable chapter at Oklahoma!” Whitter wrote on his X account when he announced his decision. “It has been an honor to work alongside the exceptional coaches, teammates and staff here who have helped me grow as a person and athlete.”
The 6-0, 220-pound native of North Carolina finished with four tackles in 2023. His best season came in 2021 when he posted 27 tackles and recovered a fumble.
Whitter suffered a season-ending injury four games in the 2022 season. He will now be part of a significant rebuild of a defense that struggled last season.
UNT allowed 37.1 points per game in its coach Eric Morris’ debut campaign when the Mean Green shifted to a 3-3-5 scheme.
Morris and his staff said throughout last season that the Mean Green did not have players with the physical attributes to make the scheme effective.
UNT’s goal was to become bigger across the board heading into 2024. Whitter will help the Mean Green move closer to that goal.
Recruiting website 247Sports rated Whitter as a four-star prospect in the class of 2020. The site had him rated as the No. 11 prospect at inside linebacker.
He originally committed to Wake Forest before flipping to Oklahoma.
Whitter developed into a contributor for the Sooners over the next few years. New UNT linebackers coach Brian Odom coached Whitter when he was the Sooners’ inside linebackers coach.
“Every time I get on the field, I’m just trying to produce as much as I can,” Whitter said in a press conference during the 2021 season. “Whether [that’s] on defense or special teams, every time I go out there, I really just try to contribute to the team and do my best.”
UNT has loaded up on transfers across its defense over the last few weeks. Whitter is the second linebacker the Mean Green have added from a Big 12 school.
Iowa State transfer JJ Jean-Louis joined the Mean Green at the semester break and participated in spring practice. He is expected to play one of the outside linebacker spots.
UNT has two of its top linebackers from last season returning in Jordan Brown and Ethan Wesloski.
Brown led UNT with 83 tackles last season, while Wesloski added 63.
Whitter was the last of seven transfers UNT added ahead of the beginning of summer workouts.
UNT also officially announced the additions of quarterback Chandler Morris (TCU), wide receiver Nick Rempert (Tulsa) and linebacker Connor Henderson (Cornell) as well as defensive linemen VJ Bronson (Arkansas State), Terrell Dawkins (South Carolina) and Breylon Charles (Navarro College).
UNT finished 5-7 in Morris’ debut campaign last fall.
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