Former Texas OL Brandon Hodges announces transfer to Pitt

More than a month after announcing his intentions to become a graduate transfer, former Texas Longhorns offensive lineman Brandon Hodges announced on Tuesday that he will be joining the Pitt Panthers program:

The starting right tackle for Pitt last season, Brian O’Neill, exhausted his eligibility, opening up a potential opportunity for Hodges, who will compete with senior Jaryd Jones-Smith. The incumbent player has only started one game in his career, which came last season when he lined up as a sixth offensive lineman.

The 6’5, 310-pound Hodges sat out for most of the spring due to academic difficulties, but apparently recovered enough in the classroom that he was able to graduate and retain his final season of eligibility.

However, as a result of missing that time, Hodges fell behind senior Tristan Nickelson and sophomore Denzel Okafor at the right tackle position, where Hodges started nine games in 2016.

A product of East Mississippi Community College, Hodges is a Mississippi native who failed to quality out of high school, but eventually became a consensus three-star prospect, ranking as the No. 37 junior college player overall and the No. 7 junior college offensive tackle in the 2015 recruiting class.