Michigan State football has reached out to Indiana WR transfer

The transfer portal being utilized mid-season is a true sign of the times in college football. That doesn’t mean that Michigan State football can’t end up on the good side of one of these transfers.

Jonathan Smith watched as a good chunk of his team entered the portal following his hiring last December and even more left the program following spring ball as they realized they didn’t fit the new system. Transfers are nothing new to Michigan State.

And the Spartans have been heavily utilizing the portal for their own gain, too.

Smith has been an advocate of the portal and landed the No. 1 quarterback in the 2024 transfer class (Aidan Chiles) in the offseason along with a slew of other high-priority targets like Ed Woods, Jordan Turner, Wayne Matthews III, Jack Velling, and Tanner Miller. The portal haul this past offseason was strong but Smith isn’t waiting until December or January to get to work again.

Actually, he’s already reached out to his first transfer target, according to Chris Hummer.

Indiana WR Donaven McCulley has heard from more than a dozen schools since entering the portal, a source tells @mzenitz and I for @247Sports/@CBSSports, including:

Maryland
Baylor
MSU
Cincy
UCLA
UCF
Houston
Cal
Colorado
SMU
VT
Bama
Michigan https://t.co/cEvbJyNCc9 pic.twitter.com/doBXVN5YVs

— Chris Hummer (@chris_hummer) October 10, 2024

The Spartans are reportedly targeting Indiana receiver transfer Donaven McCulley who redshirted and hit the portal after playing in just three games this season with two catches for 21 yards and a touchdown. His utilization had to play a factor as Indiana was racking up points but he was seeing next to no targets for the undefeated Hoosiers.

And it’s not like he was some scrub, either.

Prior to the 2024 season, McCulley had his career year in 2023, catching 48 passes for 644 yards and six touchdowns. He was the team’s leading receiving by nearly 300 yards and had 14 more catches than the next-closest receiver as well. Although Indiana was bad, McCulley was a serious bright spot.

The receiver position has been one of need for Michigan State football this year with Nick Marsh, Jaron Glover, Alante Brown, and Antonio Gates Jr. all missing some time. That has limited Aidan Chiles quite a bit — it’s hard to get acclimated when you don’t have your top targets healthy every week.

McCulley would be a nice addition at 6-foot-5 and 203 pounds and Michigan State fans got to see how solid he was firsthand in 2023 when he caught three passes for 72 yards against the Spartans.

Let’s kick the portal class off strong.