Michigan State football owns 11th-best transfer class in the nation

Michigan State football is now the proud owner of the No. 11 transfer portal class in the country for 2024.

In the transfer portal and NIL era, teams can either adjust to the times or fall behind (looking at you, Dabo Swinney). Fortunately for Michigan State football, Jonathan Smith has adjusted.

While he has seen a few dozen players enter the transfer portal since he took over as head coach, he has also landed 22 of his own. That’s right, as of May 17, Smith has landed 22 transfers from the portal and that number figures to grow in the coming weeks as he continues to put his roster together. He’s flipping this team that went 9-15 over the past two seasons in a hurry. It feels like it’s been decades since Michigan State’s 11-2 season in 2021.

The roster was in desperate need of repair and Smith has done just that by closing the 2024 recruiting class strong (No. 31 nationally) and now he has one of the best transfer classes as well.

In fact, after landing UCF safety transfer Nikai Martinez on Friday afternoon, the Spartans own the No. 11 transfer class for 2024.

There are only three Big Ten schools that rank ahead of Michigan State in the portal.

Jonathan Smith has now assembled the 11th BEST transfer class nationally in 2024.

The Spartans are 1 of 4 Big Ten schools to rank Top 15 in the nation:

• Oregon – 2nd
• Washington – 9th
• Ohio St – 10th
• Michigan St – 11th

Building blocks in East Lansing. https://t.co/ZVq1HuviCz

— Ben Stevens (@BenScottStevens) May 17, 2024

That’s right, the Spartans are just one of four Big Ten teams in the top 15 national in transfer portal class rankings on 247Sports. Oregon is No. 2, Washington is No. 9, and Ohio State is 10th. Not bad company to be in.

And it feels like Michigan State isn’t even done yet as Indiana’s Kobee Minor, an All-Big Ten honorable mention defensive back, is likely to commit to the Spartans soon. He could shoot the Spartans ahead of Ohio State and into the top 10.

Smith is doing a fantastic job in a short period of time. If he can win 7-8 games this season and exceed expectations, expect next year’s transfer and recruiting classes to be even better.