Notre Dame pulls former Oklahoma State safety Thomas Harper out of transfer portal
A visit to Notre Dame was the final push that Thomas Harper needed to choose his next stop. He made the decision public just a few hours after the trip ended.
Harper, a grad transfer safety from Oklahoma State, announced Friday he will continue his career at Notre Dame. He arrived in South Bend Wednesday for a visit and left Friday morning. He chose the Irish over Kansas State, which he visited in December. The 2023 season will be his fifth in college football. He has not redshirted in his career and is using the COVID-19 waiver to play a bonus season.
Safety looked like a portal need with the likelihood that 10-game starter Brandon Joseph would declare for the NFL Draft and the possible departure of two fifth-year players.
Joseph, a transfer from Northwestern last offseason, made that pro move official Dec. 31. Houston Griffith, who set the Notre Dame for career games played (62) by appearing in the Gator Bowl, is out of eligibility. DJ Brown has a sixth-year option available, but he participated in the Nov. 19 Senior Day ceremony and has not announced his 2023 plans. Brown started 10 games and led all Irish safeties in snaps played (504).
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Harper started all seven games he played in 2022, totaling 30 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, 1 interception and 2 passes broken up. He did not play in the final five regular season games due to an undisclosed injury and entered the transfer portal before Oklahoma State played Wisconsin in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl Dec. 27.
The 5-foot-11, 180-pound Harper played in 42 career games and logged 1,170 defensive snaps for Oklahoma State. He had 93 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 2 interceptions, 7 passes broken up, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery.
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Oklahoma State was the only Power Five team to offer Harper as a prep prospect. He was a three-star recruit from Knoxville (Tenn.) Karns High School and ranked No. 1,271 overall in the 2019 On3 Consensus. He had one other FBS opportunity, Navy. The Cowboys signed his older brother, Devin, three years earlier.
Harper worked his way up from lightly recruited freshman to starter in four seasons. He won a special teams role in 2019 and made 13 tackles that season. He played 434 defensive snaps in 11 games in 2020, with one start and 31 tackles. He had 20 tackles in 2021. He did not play against Notre Dame in the 2022 Fiesta Bowl.
Harper mainly manned the “strike” safety position in Oklahoma State’s 3-3-5 defense, which often left him in man coverage against slot receivers. He played 259 of his 397 snaps in the slot this season, per Pro Football Focus. He could help Notre Dame at safety or at nickel back. The Irish have a need at the latter as well with starting slot corner TaRiq Bracy out of eligibility. Bracy played 527 snaps this year, with 39 tackles, 6 tackles for loss, 1 sack and 1 interception.
As it stands (including Brown), Notre Dame has eight safeties with Harper in the fold. Rising seniors Ramon Henderson and Xavier Watts each played more than 300 snaps this year, with the latter starting the final four games. Junior-to-be Justin Walters has not seen the field on defense in two seasons with the team and missed the second half of the season. The Irish signed three safeties in the 2023 class: Adon Shuler, Ben Minich and Brandyn Hillman. All are four-star prospects in the On3 Consensus.
