Michigan
How 28 Michigan, MSU football transfers from this offseason played in first game with new schools
DETROIT – Michigan and Michigan State both got off to solid starts during the first weekend of college football, and so did many former players who transferred from those programs this offseason.
Jim Harbaugh and Mel Tucker weren’t afraid to dip into the transfer portal to fill some holes in their rosters, but they also lost nearly 30 players combined.
Here’s how 28 of those players performed in the first week with their new teams:
QB Cade McNamara and TE Erick All
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Transfer: From Michigan to Iowa
It was a very appropriate start for the two most high-profile Michigan transfers of this offseason, as McNamara threw for an efficient 191 yards and Iowa scored just 24 points in a win over Utah State.
McNamara completed 17 of 30 pass attempts and had two touchdowns. One of those scores went to All, who caught three passes for 15 yards.
QB Payton Thorne
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Transfer: From Michigan State to Auburn
Auburn scored 59 points against Massachusetts, but Thorne was underwhelming, throwing for 141 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for 15 yards on three carries.
WR Keon Coleman
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Transfer: From Michigan State to Florida State
The award for best performance on this list goes to Coleman, who led Florida State to an upset win over No. 5 LSU on Sunday night.
Coleman caught nine passes for 122 yards and scored three touchdowns. He looks like he could be one of the best receivers in the nation this season.
WR AJ Henning
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Transfer: From Michigan to Northwestern
Henning was featured more in the Northwestern offense than he would have been at Michigan, but he probably isn’t going to win many games. The Wildcats went to Rutgers and got drubbed 24-7.
Henning caught four passes for 42 yards, rushed twice for one yard, and didn’t have a chance to return any kicks or punts (all fair catches).
DB RJ Moten and LB Deuce Spurlock
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Transfer: From Michigan to Florida
Florida lost its season opener against Utah, but the defense managed to give up just 24 points.
Moten — a surprise transfer after playing major snaps at Michigan — registered one tackle, while Spurlock didn’t have any.
RB Elijah Collins
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Transfer: From Michigan State to Oklahoma State
Collins had a decent debut against Central Arkansas, leading Oklahoma State in rushing attempts. He gained 41 yards on eight carries and scored one touchdown.
WR Andrel Anthony
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Transfer: From Michigan to Oklahoma
The Sooners exploded in their opener against Arkansas State, scoring 73 points in a shutout win.
Anthony caught three passes for 66 yards, including a 45-yarder. He didn’t get into the end zone.
LB Nikhai Hill-Green, DL Julius Welschof, edge Eyabi Okie-Anoma, and DB Damani Dent
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Transfer: From Michigan to Charlotte
Biff Poggi won his Charlotte debut 24-3 over South Carolina State.
Hill-Green helped lead the way with seven tackles, three solo tackles, a tackle for loss, and a pass break-up.
Okie-Anoma had a sack, two tackles for loss, and three total tackles.
Welschof made two tackles, including one solo.
Dent didn’t register any stats.
WR Germie Bernard
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Transfer: From Michigan State to Washington
Two weeks before his return to East Lansing, Bernard made his Washington debut in a blowout win over Boise State.
He caught three passes for 47 yards from Heisman Trophy candidate Michael Penix Jr.
QB Alan Bowman
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Transfer: From Michigan to Oklahoma State
Bowman didn’t start the game for Oklahoma State, but he finished with the most pass attempts, going 13-for-24 for 80 yards. He didn’t throw a touchdown pass or an interception.
WR Terry Lockett
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Transfer: From Michigan State to Eastern Michigan
Eastern Michigan held off a late comeback attempt by Howard, but Lockett wasn’t a factor in the passing game.
DL Taylor Upshaw
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Transfer: From Michigan to Colorado to Arizona
It was a wild offseason for Upshaw, who originally transferred from Michigan to Colorado in January but then was back in the portal by April.
He eventually landed at Arizona, and finished his first game under Jedd Fisch with three tackles, a half a sack, and 1.5 tackles for loss.
DB Tate Hallock
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Transfer: From Michigan State to Western Michigan
Hallock led Western Michigan’s defense with seven tackles and four solo tackles in an opening win over St. Francis.
DL George Rooks
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Transfer: From Michigan to Boston College
Boston College’s season got off to a rough start with a home loss to Northern Illinois.
Rooks played, but didn’t record any tackles.
DL Jalen Hunt
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Transfer: From Michigan State to Houston to Cincinnati
After he originally committed to Houston this offseason, Hunt ended up at Cincinnati. He didn’t record any stats in the opening win over Eastern Kentucky.
TE Louis Hansen
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Transfer: From Michigan to Connecticut
UConn hung with North Carolina State for most of the game last week, but Hansen didn’t get any action in the passing game.
Edge Jeff Pietrowski
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Transfer: From Michigan State to Wisconsin
Pietrowski joined new head coach Luke Fickell at Wisconsin and made two tackles in a win over Buffalo.
K Jack Stone
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Transfer: From Michigan State to Baylor
Baylor was one of the biggest losers this weekend, dropping a home game to Texas State by double digits.
The field goal kicking duties went to Isaiah Hankins, who made three of four kicks, including one from 53 yards. Stone did not get an opportunity.
DL Chase Charter
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Transfer: From Michigan State to Incarnate Word
Incarnate Word traveled to UTEP this weekend, and Carter made one tackle.
TE Hampton Fay
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Transfer: From Michigan State to Oklahoma
Originally a quarterback at Michigan State, Fay is now listed as a tight end at Oklahoma.
He didn’t see any action in Saturday’s 73-0 win over Arkansas State.
DL Dashaun Mallory
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Transfer: From Michigan State to Arizona State
Arizona State, a 34-point home favorite, almost lost its opener against Southern Utah, but held on to win by three points.
Mallory registered four tackles, two solo tackles, and one tackle for loss.
Edge Michael Fletcher
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Transfer: From Michigan State to Appalachian State
Fletcher made three total tackles and defended a pass in Appalachian State’s win over Gardner-Webb.
LB Carson Casteel
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Transfer: From Michigan State to Vanderbilt
Casteel ended up on Vanderbilt’s roster this season, but he didn’t record any stats in the first two games.
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Michigan
Michigan State Spartans Insider Podcast: Recapping Spartans’ Win Over Washington
No. 16 Michigan State just keeps winning, and it’s doing so against quality Big Ten teams.
The Spartans steamrolled Washington at the Breslin Center on Thursday, besting the visitors, 88-54. They did so in front of a vibrant home crowd on what was the annual Alumni Night.
With the victory, Michigan State improves to 13-2 on the year, 4-0 in Big Ten play and 8-0 on its home court. It is also extended its win streak to eight games.
Our Aidan Champion recaps the win on this postgame edition of the Michigan State Spartans Insider Podcast.
You can watch the episode below:
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo addressed the media after Thursday’s contest.
Below is a partial transcript from Izzo’s opening statement:
Izzo: “Well, when you have a game like that, it’s hard to even know what to say except — that was Matt Larson that said it walking up the steps — I hope every media person, every alum, every student and every fan, appreciates the specialness we have here. The alumni reunions that we have every year are incredible, but for that many former Izzone members to come back over 20 and 30 years was special. Special for me, I think special for my team. And I almost felt sorry for Washington; I mean, they probably thought they were coming in here and there’d be no students. And that group was so good and so fired up; there was no entitlement, none of them left, none of them transferred. They were unbelievable. And I could have stayed there for a half hour after and thanked each and every one of them. But in all the things that happen, please appreciate that this place is different. It’s different. You can say it about places all over — this place is damn different. And I’m just thankful for them, I’m thankful for our marketing people, I’m thankful for our Izzone coach and I’m thankful for all the people that put in the work to get this thing done. I don’t want to make it bigger than the game, but for Tom Izzo, it’s bigger than the game. And when Matt said it to me walking up the steps, I thought it was special.”
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Michigan
Michigan State football lands Division II transfer WR Rodney Bullard from Valdosta State
Jonathan Smith continues to replenish his roster and Michigan State football’s receiver room.
The Spartans picked up a pledge Thursday from wideout Rod Bullard, a transfer from Division II Valdosta State in Georgia. The 6-foot, 170-pound native of Albany, Georgia, has two years of eligibility remaining after redshirting in 2022 and playing 28 games the past two seasons.
As a sophomore in the fall, Bullard caught 42 passes for 1,001 yards with 12 touchdowns and an average of 23.8 yards per catch. The Blazers lost to Ferris State in the Division II national title game, and Bullard had three catches for 15 yards in the 49-14 loss.
In 2023, he had 43 catches for 566 yards and seven scores and returned 16 kicks for a 24.8-yard average with a 99-yard touchdown return.
Bullard is the 14th transfer and third incoming receiver, joining Chrishon McCray (Kent State) and Omari Kelly (Middle Tennessee State). The Spartans lost wideouts Jaron Glover (Mississippi State), Jaelen Smith (Texas-San Antonio), Aziah Johnson (North Carolina) and Antonio Gates Jr. (undecided) among 13 outbound transfers from their 2024 team that finished 5-7 and missed a bowl game for the third straight season.
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
Subscribe to the “Spartan Speak” podcast for new episodes weekly on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts.
Michigan
Michigan basketball signee enrolls early, will practice with team
A member of the Michigan men’s basketball 2025 recruiting class is already on campus.
Oscar Goodman, a 6-foot-7 forward from New Zealand, is enrolled for the winter semester, which started on Wednesday, a team spokesperson said. Goodman will not appear in games this season but will be allowed to practice and participate in other team activities.
The spokesperson said this was not a typical “reclassification” — when an athlete graduates early and competes in college a season ahead of a typical schedule — but a byproduct of New Zealand’s school calendar.
Goodman will be listed as a freshman on the roster (he wasn’t listed on the online version as of Thursday morning) and a redshirt freshman next season. The rest of the Wolverines returned to campus on Wednesday after a week-long stay in Los Angeles, where they beat USC and UCLA.
“Oscar arrives in Ann Arbor as an accomplished international player and prospect, who was just named to the New Zealand senior national team,” Michigan coach Dusty May said in a statement upon Goodman’s signing in November.
“He comes from a tight-knit family that values everything that we want our program to be about. His training at the NBA (Global) Academy, as well as his eagerness and ability to compete, will allow him to affect our program positively from day one.”
Goodman, from Opunake, is ranked as the No. 75 player in the 2025 class according to the 247Sports composite. He was an all-star at the 2024 FIBA under-17 World Cup after averaging 17 points, 6.3 rebounds, and three assists per game.
Michigan’s 2025 class also includes Orchard Lake St. Mary’s guard Trey McKenney, the No. 1 player in Michigan and No. 19 prospect nationally, and wing Winters Grady (No. 82), an Oregon native currently playing for Prolific Prep in Napa, California. They figure to arrive in Ann Arbor in the summer.
- BETTING: Check out our guide to the best Michigan sportsbooks, where our team of sports betting experts has reviewed the experience, payout speed, parlay options and quality of odds for multiple sportsbooks.
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