Mississippi State Transfer OL Makylan Pounders Commits to Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Make that back-to-back commitments for the Louisville football program, and yet another offensive line portal pickup.

Former Mississippi State offensive tackle Makylan “Mak” Pounders has committed to the Cardinals, he announced Saturday.

Pounders is the second transfer commitment of the day for Louisville, joining Rutgers defensive end Wesley Bailey. He’s also the third offensive lineman to commit to the Cardinals from out of the portal, following Purdue offensive tackle Mahamane Moussa and FIU offensive guard Naeer Jackson. Add in WKU linebacker Darius Thomas, and Louisville has landed five transfers.

Pounders played just one season at Mississippi State after starting his career at Memphis. In his lone season with the Bulldogs, the 6-foot-5, 310-pound left tackle played in 11 games while making seven starts, and allowed just three sacks and 19 total pressures over 334 pass block snaps and 574 total blocking snaps.

The Byhalia, Miss native played in just three games for Memphis as a true freshman in 2021, then made seven appearances and two starts in 2022. During his final season with the Tigers in 2023, he allowed only a single sack and 12 pressures in 399 pass block and 673 total blocking snaps.

Over the course of his collegiate career, Pounders has allowed just five sacks and 38 total pressures in 840 pass blocks snaps and 1,451 blocking snaps overall.

Monday, Dec. 9 marked the first day of college football’s 30-day winter transfer portal window. So far, Louisville has seen 16 players of their own enter the portal.

Louisville finished the 2024 regular season, the second under head coach Jeff Brohm, with an 8-4 overall record and 5-3 mark in ACC play. The Cardinals will cap off the year with a matchup against Washington in the Sun Bowl on New Year’s Eve.

(Photo of Makylan Pounders: Mark J. Rebilas – Imagn Images)

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