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Published Dec 13, 2021
Tucker still bullish on the transfer portal market
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Jim Comparoni  •  Spartans Illustrated
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East Lansing, Mich. - Michigan State has transfer commitments from three players who will be part of the 2022 Spartan roster: RB Jalen Berger, formerly of Wisconsin; LB Jacoby Windmon (UNLV); and LB Aaron Brulé (Mississippi State).

These three, with more expected to come, will complement an incoming class of high school recruits which could rank in the national Top 20.

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Per the NCAA’s one-year waiver rule, teams are allowed in 2022 to sign up to 25 new players while gaining up to seven additional spots for transfers, provided that each incoming transfer takes the place of an outgoing transfer. Ten Michigan State scholarship players have entered the portal since September.

In order to hit the 25/7 maximum, Michigan State will also need to be at or under the 85 scholarship limit. Thus, more soon-to-be-former Spartans are expected to head to the portal. Some of those exits might not take place until after the bowl game.

“There are a lot of players who want to come here,” Tucker said. “Right now, we only have so many spots. We have to be very judicious in who we add to the mix because we have to make sure that our roster is balanced and we have to make sure we have enough players, enough difference-makers at each position.”

Michigan State received a huge boost from transfers in 2021. Running back Kenneth Walker III emerged as the best player on the team and won the Walter Camp Award, given to the top player in the country. Michigan State also had starters at left tackle (Jarrett Horst), Will linebacker (Quavaris Crouch) and cornerback (Chester Kimbrough, Ronald Williams, Marqui Lowery) at various points of the season.

“They see what we have done with portal guys in the past so it makes a lot of sense to them that if they come to Michigan State they are going to get a fair shake,” Tucker said. “We don’t show favoritism. It doesn’t matter if you were recruited by the previous staff or recruited by us or a high school guy or a portal guy. We don’t have sharp elbows in our locker room. Everybody we add to our team, they are going to be welcomed in the locker room. That’s big.”

In addition to Berger, Brulé and Windmon, Michigan State received a visit from transfer candidate University of Florida edge rusher Khris Bogle two weekends ago. The former national Top 100 recruit is considering Michigan State, Alabama while also receiving a strong push from Florida to stay with the Gators.

Tucker said on Monday that portal recruitment of some players could go all the way to June.

“It’s a lot different this go-round because we are actually able to visit with them face-to-face,” Tucker said. “They can come on visits. We can go see them. We just know a lot more about them and we know a lot more about our team so we know what our needs are, whether we have immediate needs, whether we need more depth, whether we can afford to develop some guys and also whether we need guys to come in and start.

“We are built in our personnel department to recruit for the high school ranks and also the portal. We have been through it before so it’s just a matter of making sure we don’t just collect players, but we are building a team.”

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