Michigan State football: Illinois transfer Andrew Dennis becomes a Spartan after all

Andrew “AJ” Dennis didn’t go away from home for long.

The one-time Michigan State football commit and Free Press Dream Team member will indeed be part of the Spartans’ 2024 class after announcing Thursday night via X (formerly Twitter) his plans to transfer from Illinois.

Dennis originally committed under previous MSU coach Mel Tucker on April 8, 2023, then renounced his pledge Oct. 16 after Tucker was fired. The Mount Pleasant native enrolled early at Illinois and went through spring practice for coach Bret Bielema in Champaign, but the interior offensive lineman entered the transfer portal Monday.

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The 6-foot-5, 290-pound Dennis was a four-star recruit who originally picked MSU over 24 other Division I offers that included Illinois, Minnesota, Baylor, Boston College, Cincinnati and Missouri among others before he reopened his recruiting and signed with the Illini. He was rated the No. 14 interior offensive lineman in the country and No. 264 player overall in the 2024 class in 247 Sports’ composite rankings, earned Division 3-4 first-team all-state honors from the Associated Press and also played defensive end last fall at Mount Pleasant High.

Dennis’ impending transfer comes hours after the Spartans lost tackle Ethan Boyd, an East Lansing High product who announced he plans to play at Colorado in the fall.

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.

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