Michigan State has added another defensive back through the transfer portal, getting the commitment of Dontavius Nash out of East Carolina on Tuesday.
Nash officially visited MSU on Sunday and Monday.
His agent, Dwayne K. Treece II, Group CEO of PortalKings™, tells Spartans Illustrated that Nash has shut down his recruitment and won't take any other visits.
The 6-foot-2, 185-pound Nash currently has one year of eligibility remaining. He told Spartans Illustrated that MSU primarily recruited him to play safety, but he also has the capability to operate as both a nickel back and at wide cornerback as well.
MSU’s latest commitment had previously spent pretty much his entire career in the state of North Carolina. Nash was a four-star prospect in the class of 2021 out of Hunter Huss High School in Gastonia, North Carolina. He began his career with the North Carolina Tar Heels of Chapel Hill and spent two years there before heading over to Greenville to play for the East Carolina Pirates for two seasons.
In total, Nash has appeared in 34 games across his four-year career so far: 24 for East Carolina and 10 for North Carolina. He’s totaled 61 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, two interceptions and seven pass breakups.
During Nash’s most recent season in 2024, he had 24 tackles, one tackle for loss, one interception and five pass breakups while starting six of the 12 games he played in.
According to Pro Football Focus, Nash played a total of 316 snaps in 2024, with the majority of which coming at the wide cornerback position. In addition, he received 167 coverage snaps, getting targeted 24 times and allowing 14 catches for 215 yards and three touchdowns, but also getting the previously mentioned pick. PFF gave Nash an overall defensive grade of 60.5 and a coverage grade of 60.7.
Nash also played 87 special teams snaps, mostly during the earlier parts of the season.
Overall, the addition of Nash makes it 23 new players for Michigan State this offseason via the transfer portal. He is the seventh get for head coach Jonathan Smith in the spring portal window and second safety/nickel addition this spring (Tracy Revels from Bowling Green). MSU also added UTSA transfer cornerback Anthony Pinnace in April. Throughout the whole offseason, MSU has now really bolstered its depth in the secondary, as the Spartans have now landed six defensive backs (Nash, Revels, Pinnace, Joshua Eaton, Malcolm Bell and NiJhay Burt).
Michigan State is also hosting Texas Tech transfer safety Devynn Cromwell for an official visit this weekend.
As far as the safeties that are coached by James Adams and secondary coach Blue Adams go, it is expected that returners Nikai Martinez and Malik Spencer will be the two starting safeties in Joe Rossi’s defense this fall. Those expected to compete for playing time behind them in addition to Nash include Khalil Majeed, Revels, Armorion Smith, Justin Denson Jr., and Aveon Grose, among others.
