Michigan State football transfer portal: Every incoming, outgoing player for 2022
As we learned last offseason, Mel Tucker isn't afraid to use the transfer portal, as the Spartans saw 20-plus players both exit and enter the program before the 2021 campaign got underway.
And after turning in a 10-2 season and earning a Peach Bowl bid, Tucker proved that the transfer portal can be used to completely overhaul a program in one season.
We'll be tracking all of the Spartans' outgoing and incoming players in the 2021-22 offseason here, so feel free to bookmark this page.
Outgoing Transfers
Antoine Booth
Position: CB
Class: Freshman
New School: TBD
Notes: Booth departs after redshirting during the 2021 season, and he's the fifth player from the 2021 recruiting class to depart, following in the footsteps of TE Kameron Allen, DT Tyson Watson, DE Alex Okelo and S Michael Gravely Jr.
The 5-foot-11, 175-pounder left the program three days after the conclusion of spring practice.
Donovan Eaglin
Position: RB
Class: Sophomore
New School: TBD
Notes: The MSU running back room is a crowded one, and with incoming transfers Jalen Berger and Jarek Broussard, along with returnee Davion Primm, at the top of the depth chart, a running back transfer was inevitable.
And two days after the end of spring practice, Eaglin put his name in the transfer portal. The Manvel, Texas, native played in all 13 games last year, mostly on special teams. He did get six carries though, rushing for 33 yards.
Other running backs fighting for playing time on the MSU roster include Harold Joiner, Elijah Collins and Jordon Simmons.
Parks Gissinger
Position: TE
Class: Junior
New School: Furman
Notes: Gissinger is the third tight end to enter the transfer portal for MSU, following Trenton Gillison and Kameron Allen. The 6-foot-4, 240-pounder played in the first four games of the 2021 season but did not make any catches. He also played in four games during the 2019 season, catching one pass for five yards.
Jacob Isaia
Position: Offensive Lineman
Class: Junior
New School: Fresno State
Notes: Isaia, a three-star player in the 2018 class, started one game for the Spartans, the Michigan game in 2019, as part of an I-formation. But he saw very little time as an offensive lineman, although he did play in all 13 games this season. However, 68 of his 71 snaps came on special teams.
Isaia, the grandson of MSU's two-time All-American and two-time national champion Bob Apisa, played in five games in 2020 and six in 2019.
Kyle King
Position: Defensive Tackle
Class: Freshman
New School: Ball State
Notes: King not only played in the Peach Bowl win over Pitt, but he also pressured QB Davis Beville moments before he threw the game-sealing interception to Cal Haladay.
The 6-3, 270-pounder played in seven games this season, tallying four tackles, a sack and three pass breakups.
King is the second MSU player in two seasons to transfer to Ball State, following OL Damon Kaylor.
Tyson Watson
Position: Defensive End
Class: Freshman
New School: Massachusetts
Notes: Watson is the latest player from the 2021 recruiting class to enter the portal. The 6-6, 270-pounder didn't see the field this fall.
Cole DeMarzo
Position: Linebacker
Class: Freshman
New School: Wyoming
Notes: With three linebackers coming in via the transfer portal, it was inevitable that there'd be some departures. DeMarzo, a South Carolina native, is the second linebacker to depart after Chase Kline. DeMarzo redshirted in 2020 and made one appearance this past season, playing in the Rutgers game.
Ian Stewart
Position: Wide Receiver
Class: Freshman
New School: Temple
Notes: Stewart couldn't break through the Spartans' deep depth chart at wide receiver. After appearing in four games in 2020, he only appeared in two this fall - the first two against Northwestern and Youngstown State. But he did catch his only career pass vs. YSU, an 8-yarder.
Kameron Allen
Position: Tight End
Class: Freshman
New School: SMU
Notes: Allen is the third recruit from the 2021 class to enter the transfer portal after Michael Gravely Jr. and Alex Okelo. Allen did not play in a game this season after arriving at the school in January. He's also the second tight end to enter the portal, joining Trenton Gillison.
Jack Camper
Position: Defensive End
Class: Senior
New School: Virginia
Notes: Camper will be a graduate transfer looking to take advantage of the extra season granted to him by the NCAA due to the pandemic. Camper was a three-star player coming out of IMG Academy, but his playing time had diminished to the point where he only appeared in two games this season, tallying one tackle against Youngstown State.
Over his four years in East Lansing, Camper had 29 tackles, including a season-high 18 in 2020.
Trenton Gillison
Position: Tight End
Class: Junior
New School: Youngstown State
Notes: Gillison started six games in his MSU career - three each in 2019 and 2020 - but could never earn the full-time gig as Connor Heyward and Tyler Hunt grabbed the majority of the snaps.
Gillison only had one catch this season, a 5-yard grab vs. Youngstown State and he finishes his career with 18 receptions for 201 yards. Gillison was a four-star prospect coming out of high school, but the 6-5, 220-pounder never found a role with the Spartans.
James Ohonba
Position: Guard
Class: Junior
New School: Louisiana
Notes: The 6-foot-4, 325-pound junior never became a full-time starter for the Spartans since arriving in 2018, but played in every game in the 2020 and 2021 seasons, primarily on special teams.
Despite having junior eligibility, Ohonba will be transferring as a graduate student.
Ricky White
Position: Wide Receiver
Class: Freshman
New School: UNLV
Notes: The 6-1, 185-pound receiver looked like he was going to be a star after making eight catches for 196 yards and a touchdown in Michigan State’s win over Michigan in 2020. However, White didn’t play a snap or participate in any team activities in the 2021 season. The reasoning was never disclosed by Tucker.
White finished his 2020 season with 10 catches for 223 yards and the TD vs. the Wolverines.
C.J. Hayes
Position: Safety
Class: Senior
New School: Syracuse
Notes: Hayes will be a graduate transfer with a year of eligibility remaining. However, unlike everyone else in the portal, Hayes will actually stick around for the Peach Bowl vs. Pittsburgh.
Hayes played in six games this season and 23 for his MSU career. Hayes moved to safety from wide receiver this season but the 6-2, 205-pounder did not tally any statistics. As a wide receiver in 2018 and 2019, Hayes caught 14 balls for 154 yards – 13/141 of those coming in 2019. Hayes was plagued by injuries, undergoing two foot surgeries and missing the 2020 season.
Michael Gravely Jr.
Position: Cornerback
Class: Freshman
New School: TBD
Notes: Gravely is the second player from Tucker’s first full recruiting class to depart the program, after DE Alex Okelo. The 6-0, 201-pound corner from Cleveland did not see any playing time this season.
The 3-star recruit has received offers from Penn State, Missouri, Kent State, Miami, Toledo, Rhode Island and Eastern Kentucky, per his Twitter account.
Nick Chudler
Position: Long Snapper
Class: Senior
New School: TBD
Notes: This one comes with an asterisk, as Chudler hasn’t been on MSU’s roster since the 2019 season, but officially entered the transfer portal this offseason. The 6-0, 205-pound walk-on from Novi never played a down for the Spartans.
Evan Johnson
Position: Kicker
Class: Junior
New School: TBD
Notes: Johnson, a walk-on who transferred from Hope College after the 2018 season, had not seen any action until this year’s regular-season finale against Penn State when injuries to Matt Coghlin and Stephen Rusnak pressed Johnson into action in the second half. In the driving snow, the Holt graduate missed the first extra point but made the second. Those were the only snaps of Johnson’s MSU career.
Emmanuel Flowers
Position: Cornerback
Class: Senior
New School: Samford
Notes: Flowers will be a grad transfer as he seeks out a school to play in his final year. The 6-2, 205-pounder played in 11 games this season, mostly on special teams, and finished the year with three tackles.
Flowers played in 30 games in his four years in East Lansing, finishing his MSU career with seven tackles. He is part of a defensive backs corps that has now seen five players enter the portal.
Michael Dowell
Position: Safety
Class: Junior
New School: Miami (Ohio)
Notes: Perhaps the most surprising player to enter the transfer portal, Dowell played in all 12 games in 2021, starting the season’s first four games before getting usurped by sophomore Darius Snow. But Dowell was still seeing numerous snaps, finishing the season with 40 tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss and three pass breakups.
Dowell finishes his MSU career with 82 tackles and a touchdown, playing in all 32 games from 2019-2021. He started six of those, including two in 2020.
Dowell originally committed to Pitt before landing at Miami (Ohio).
Alex Okelo
Position: Defensive End
Class: Freshman
New School: TBD
Notes: Okelo, a true freshman this past season, did not play any snaps and the Tennessee native was the first Spartan to enter the portal during the season.
Chase Kline
Position: Linebacker
Class: Junior
New School: Eastern Michigan
Notes: Kline’s departure was a bit of a surprise, considering he was a top backup on the depth chart behind starters Quavaris Crouch and Cal Haladay. Kline had averaged 23 snaps in the Spartans’ first three games, but only played 5 snaps against Nebraska – although one of those was a sack in overtime – and, like DB Kalon Gervin, saw the diminished playing time as a trend and not an aberration.
Kline leaves MSU with 52 tackles, 1.5 sacks and 2 forced fumbles in his career.
Kalon Gervin
Position: Cornerback
Class: Junior
New School: Kansas
Notes: Gervin entered the transfer portal after playing only on special teams following MSU’s 23-20 win over Nebraska in Week 4. Gervin had started two of MSU’s first four contests only to see his playing time decrease as Ronald Williams, Chester Kimbrough, Marqui Lowery and Charles Brantley all jumped him on the depth chart.
The 5-foot-11, 190-pound Detroit native played in 23 career games at MSU, starting nine. He finished his MSU career with 44 tackles, four pass breakups and a fumble recovery.
Gervin originally committed to Wisconsin before deciding on Kansas.
Incoming transfers
Brian Greene
Position: Offensive Line
Class: Senior
Previous school: Washington State
Notes: MSu added its first offensive line transfer of the offseason in Greene, a senior with an extra year of eligibility and who was on the Remington Award watch list last year.
Greene started five games for the Cougars last year at both center and right guard. He also missed five games due to injury and personal reasons.
Daniel Barker
Position: Tight End
Class: Junior
Previous School: Illinois
Notes: If you remember the 2019 Illinois-MSU game, it was Daniel Barker who scored the Illini's game-winning touchdown in the final seconds of a 37-34 win, a game in which the Spartans led 28-3 at one point.
And now, Barker's a Spartan.
The 6-4, 230-pound Florida native was a three-star prospect coming out of high school in 2018. Last season, Barker had 18 receptions for 202 yards and four touchdowns in eight games. He finished his Illini career with 64 catches for 827 yards and 11 touchdowns in 28 games.
Jarek Broussard
Position: Running Back
Class: Sophomore
Previous School: Colorado
Notes: Broussard is the second running back the Spartans have accepted as a transfer, as he reunites his Mel Tucker, his former coach at Colorado. The Spartans are certainly hoping they can catch lightning in a bottle twice with either Broussard or Jalen Berger (Wisconsin).
Broussard was the 2020 Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year, rushing for 895 yards (162.2 per game, third in the FBS) and five touchdowns in earning first-team all-league honors.
He ran for 661 yards with two touchdowns this year, starting 10 games for the Buffaloes.
Ameer Speed
Position: Defensive Back
Class: Senior
Previous School: Georgia
Notes: The 6-3, 211-pounder played in all but two games for the national champion Bulldogs. Speed started three games this year, with a career-high of three tackles against Arkansas.
He'll have one year of eligibility at MSU. The Florida native played in 48 games for Georgia, tallying 25 tackles.
Khris Bogle
Position: Linebacker
Class: Junior
Previous School: Florida
Notes: Bogle is the third linebacker the Spartans have picked up in the transfer portral, along with Aaron Brule (Mississippi State) and Jacoby Windmon (UNLV). However, Bogle can also play defensive end as a hybrid player.
Bogle was a four-star prospect coming out of high school, ranked 71st nationally in the 247Sports Composite Rankings and had offers from Alabama, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia and LSU.
Bogle played in 11 games this season, starting three. He finished with 23 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.
Aaron Brule
Position: Linebacker
Class: Sophomore
Previous School: Mississippi State
Notes: Brule is the second linebacker in as many days to transfer to MSU, following in the footsteps of UNLV's Jacoby Windmon. This past season, Brule tallied 53 tackles, eight tackles for loss and three sacks. Brule will have two seasons of eligibility left.
In 40 career games with the Bulldogs, Brule had 86 tackles, eight sacks, two fumble recoveries and three pass deflections.
Jacoby Windmon
Position: Linebacker
Class: Junior
Previous School: UNLV
Notes: Windmon chose Michigan State over other Power Five schools such as Texas, Missouri, TCU, Houston, Iowa State, Minnesota, Kansas State, Louisville, Indiana, Maryland and Kansas.
There was a reason the 6-2, 230-pounder was highly sought after: After moving from defensive line to linebacker this season, Windmon had a breakout campaign for the Rebels, finishing with 118 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, six sacks and two forced fumbles.
Both starting linebackers – Crouch and Haladay – return next year, so it’ll be interesting to see where Windmon fits in exactly in defensive coordinator Scottie Hazelton’s 4-2-5 scheme.
Jalen Berger
Position: Running Back
Class: Freshman
Previous School: Wisconsin
Notes: A former four-star recruit, Berger was dismissed from the Wisconsin program during the season. But he had a couple of moments in 2020, leading the Badgers with 301 rushing yards while adding two touchdowns.
Berger joins a pretty crowded running back room, which already has starter Jordon Simmons, Harold Joiner, Elijah Collins, Davion Primm, Donovan Eaglin, Caleb Wolf and fellow transfer Jarek Broussard (Colorado) all on next season's roster. Dillon Tatum, who's listed as an athlete in the 2022 recruiting class, could also potentially end up as a running back.
Contact digital sports reporter Phil Friend at 517-377-1220 or pfriend@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Phil_Friend.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Michigan State football transfer portal: Tracking all 2022 players
