Michigan State adds familiar face in Illinois transfer OL Andrew Dennis
Michigan State is adding a familiar face to its offensive line room. Illinois transfer offensive lineman Andrew Dennis, who was once committed to MSU, has decided to pledge to the Spartans.
Dennis enrolled at Illinois in January and went through spring practices with the Fighting Illini. However, he entered the transfer portal on April 29.
Now, he will play his college football in East Lansing after all. Dennis joins head coach Jonathan Smith, offensive line coach/run game coordinator Jim Michalczik, assistant offensive line coach Jacob Lail and the rest of the staff at Michigan State.
Dennis took a visit to Michigan State on Thursday, and knew he wanted to commit to the Spartans once again.
"Growing up around East Lansing has always been special," Dennis told Spartans Illustrated. "Some things never change — I can’t wait for four more years here!"
Dennis will have all four years of college eligibility still remaining.
Dennis was previously committed to Michigan State from April 2023 until October of 2023 under the previous coaching regime. Amidst uncertainty with the program, he decommitted following the firing of former MSU head coach Mel Tucker.
Given the timing of Smith's hiring at Michigan State on Nov. 25, 2023, things didn't quite work out between Dennis and the new staff just before the early signing period. However, they had conversations and got more familiar with each other.
Dennis then signed with Illinois in December of 2023 before arriving on campus in Champaign the following month.
When Dennis decided to hit the portal earlier this week, after spending a few months with the Fighting Illini, it was Michigan State that was the first school to make contact.
"They have been good to me since they’ve been hired," Dennis said about the new Michigan State coaching staff. "I committed to Illinois a few hours before Coach Smith was hired and they understood that. They were the first staff to reach out when my name hit the portal and have been very good (since then) and the communication has been great."
While he gained some experience in the interior of the offensive line this past spring at Illinois, the 6-foot-5, 290-pound Dennis tells Spartans Illustrated that he will play tackle at Michigan State.
When he arrives on campus, Dennis will be added to Michigan State's 2024 offensive line room that includes Tanner Miller, Kristian Phillips, Gavin Broscious, Ashton Lepo, Brandon Baldwin, Luke Newman, Stanton Ramil and several others.
Additionally, Dennis joins his fellow 2024 offensive line classmates in Charlton Luniewski, Mercer Luniewski, Rustin Young, Payton Stewart and Rakeem Johnson.
Michigan State recently saw two offensive linemen enter the transfer portal in tackle Ethan Boyd and guard Geno VanDeMark.
Dennis was a four-star recruit out of Mount Pleasant High School, which is located about an hour away from Michigan State's campus. He ranked as the No. 3 player in the state of Michigan, No. 7 offensive guard and No. 153 player in the nation in the 2024 cycle. Dennis received more than 30 scholarship offers.
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