Why an Illinois OL transferring is a big deal for Michigan State football

Michigan State football could soon be trending for an offensive lineman transfer from Illinois who was once a Spartan commit.

My colleague and Twitter friend Connor Muldowney wrote about a major transfer portal move coming out of Champaign, Ill. But why does Michigan State football care?

That player is class of 2024 four-star offensive lineman Andrew Dennis, a former Spartan commit.

Dennis was a four-star recruit and the building block for former head coach Mel Tucker’s class prior to being fired mid season for off-the-field reasons.

The 6-foot-5 offensive lineman committed early in the cycle and was a vocal leader for the class. He’d drive down every weekend on his own dime to spend time with other recruits who were visiting during the summer months. It was patently clear Dennis was born to be a Spartan and many believed he was so committed to playing in East Lansing that his pledge might weather the roller-coaster of a season the football program experienced.

Unfortunately, Dennis decommitted in October amid the disaster unfolding within the program. The final schools being considered were Clemson, Illinois, Purdue, and Penn State. MSU’s crown jewel ultimately signed with Illinois and enrolled early.

Allen Trieu of 247Sports broke the news on Monday afternoon along with a very interesting caveat to the portal entry: Andrew Dennis wants to be closer to home.

Illinois freshman OL Andrew Dennis has entered the transfer portal.

Dennis cites a desire to be closer to home as a reason. 

Was a four-star prospect in the 2024 class who enrolled mid-year at Illinois and was working at center.https://t.co/e509gTEpjV pic.twitter.com/vaqfOAR3ia

— Allen Trieu (@AllenTrieu) April 29, 2024

Between being a former Spartan diehard and being from Mount Pleasant, Michigan State appears to be in a very good spot to land the elite lineman.

This is huge because it not only adds talent/depth to last year’s weakest position group but it also brings in a ‘glue-guy’ type personality to the locker room. In today’s day of the transfer portal, no team can have too many glue guys.

Given Dennis was an early enrollee, he has a head start on his transition to college ball and I’d assume has made progress in Illinois strength and conditioning program. This would make things easier for him to learn the new offensive brought to Michigan State by new coaches Jonathan Smith and (OL coach) Jim Michalczik.

There’s a chance Dennis doesn’t even need to visit in order to commit.

I’d keep an eye out for movement on this one in the next couple days.