Michigan State football has reached out to No. 1 WR in transfer portal

Michigan State football has reportedly reached out to the No. 1 receiver in the transfer portal, Arizona State’s Elijhah Badger.

Jonathan Smith is no stranger to the transfer portal by now. While the first-year Michigan State football coach has lost dozens of players to the portal since he’s taken over in East Lansing, he’s also landed a dozen players.

Smith has done a solid job of addressing positions of need in the portal like cornerback, running backs, the offensive line, and the defensive line and he’s now targeting receivers. Arguably the biggest area of need on offense with the current roster is receiver with Montorie Foster returning as the top target from last year’s team.

Michigan State has already reached out to the No. 4 available wide receiver in the portal in Auburn’s Ja’Varrius Johnson and the Spartans made his trimmed list and now they’re reportedly targeting the No. 1 transfer wideout, Elijhah Badger.

According to Hayes Fawcett, Michigan State is one of 20 schools to reach out to the portal’s top available receiver.

Former Arizona State WR Elijhah Badger has heard from these 2️⃣0️⃣ Schools since entering the Transfer Portal, he tells @on3sports

The 6’2 190 WR totaled 142 receptions for 1,640 Yards, & 10 TDs in his time at ASU

Is the Top Available WR in the Portal (per On3 Industry)… pic.twitter.com/Q5FEMBioxT

— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) May 4, 2024

Badger has heard from some big-time programs like Michigan, Florida, Ole Miss, USC, Wisconsin, Auburn, Florida State, Washington, Utah, Texas A&M, and Auburn since hitting the portal. He’ll have his pick of the litter when it comes to taking that next step, but the Pac-12 familiarity with Smith might help the Spartans out.

While he’s planning visits to other schools, Smith could make him a priority because there’s a serious need for targets in East Lansing.

Badger is one of the best out there, catching 135 passes for 1,579 yards and 10 touchdowns over the past two seasons at Arizona State. Plus, he could re-link up with his former teammate Ed Woods who committed to Michigan State football this week.

Imagining Badger catching passes from Aidan Chiles and combining with Foster and Nick Marsh is enough to make any offensive coordinator happy. He would provide much-needed juice to the receiver corps.