Former Texas WR Al’Vonte Woodard commits to Sam Houston State

After spending four and a half months in the NCAA transfer portal, former Texas Longhorns wide receiver Al’Vonte Woodard committed to the Sam Houston State Bearkats on Tuesday.

The 6’2, 193-pounder is a graduate transfer who will join former Texas teammate BJ Foster in Huntsville. Foster signed with the Bearkats back in February.

A member of the 2018 recruiting class out of Houston Lamar, Woodard was a consensus four-star prospect ranked as the No. 104 player nationally and the No. 20 wide receiver, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. His offer list totaled more than 30 schools, so it was considered a significant coup for the Longhorns when Woodard chose Texas over Texas A&M in July 2017.

Woodard showed plenty of promise at Lamar, including running a 4.52 40-yard dash and posting a 34-inch vertical leap — he projected as an outside receiver capable of stretching defenses vertically.

But Woodard was never able to turn his potential into production, redshirting his first season, playing sparingly the following year with three catches for 28 yards, and failing to break into the regular rotation again in 2020 with four catches for 34 yards.

A new head coach didn’t help things for Woodard, who was unable to take advantage of the opportunities provided by injuries and attrition at the position — he did not make a single catch in 2021. Entering the season, there was some hope that slimming down to 193 pounds would help Woodard after playing at 214 pounds in 2020, but the weight loss didn’t help him see the field.