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Barry Sanders will transfer to Oklahoma State for final season

(AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
(AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Barry J. Sanders is headed to his father’s alma mater.

A month after announcing his intention to leave Stanford and pursue a graduate transfer, Sanders, the son of NFL great Barry Sanders, told The Oklahoman that he will play his final season of college football at Oklahoma State.

“They’ve got my full commitment and I’m looking forward to being there come late June,” Sanders said.

Sanders, a running back, is scheduled to graduate from Stanford in the summer. Before his Hall of Fame NFL career with the Detroit Lions, Sanders’ father was a star at OSU and had one of the best individual seasons in college football history in 1988, finishing with 2,850 rushing yards and 44 touchdowns en route to a Heisman Trophy.

The younger Sanders was the backup to Heisman runner-up Christian McCaffrey at Stanford the past two seasons. He redshirted his first season with the program in 2012 and combined for 664 yards and five touchdowns over the past three seasons, including 315 yards and four scores last year.

With McCaffrey returning for his junior season, Sanders decided to look elsewhere. And though Sanders said his father encouraged him to “keep an open mind” in regards to his transfer destination, it seems he had his mind set on Oklahoma State from the start.

“I think that he would have wanted me to look at more schools,” Sanders said of his father. “He definitely didn’t want me to make a decision without considering other options. What I told him was that this was something I’ve been thinking about for some time. I just knew this was the right decision and the right fit for a variety of different reasons. So when I kind of explained my reasons behind it, he was pretty comfortable with it and he’s just as excited as I am.”

Sanders was a four-star recruit in the 2012 class after a standout career at Heritage Hall High School in Oklahoma City. He chose Stanford over Oklahoma State and plenty of other offers.

He will be eligible to play immediately and compete for the Cowboys’ starting running back job in 2016.

For more Stanford news, visit CardinalSportsReport.com.

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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!