Michigan State Lands 20th Portal Commitment of Offseason
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The transfer portal has only been open for a week, and Michigan State has already reached 20 commitments.
Weber State transfer Keahnist Thompson is the 20th person to join MSU via the portal so far, committing to the Spartans on Thursday night. Thompson had 7.0 tackles for loss and 4.0 sacks this past season across nine games for the Wildcats in 2025. The defensive end is listed at 6-foot-3 and 255 pounds and has one year of eligibility remaining.
Thompson, who began his collegiate career at UCF, visited Michigan State on Monday. As a high school recruit, Thompson was a three-star recruit on the higher end, ranked 464th overall in the class of 2022 on the 247Sports Composite.
This is the sixth commitment made public for MSU on Thursday alone. Thompson is the second pass rusher of the day, joining Southeast Missouri State transfer Trey Lisle.
More on Thompson, Fit at MSU
When Thompson played this past fall, he was a starter each time for Weber State. He played 403 defensive snaps this past year, according to Pro Football Focus. The site gave him an overall defensive grade of 71.4. Thompson generated 25 pressures across 242 pass-rushing snaps.
One trait that is to like about Thompson is that he seemed to do better against the Wildcats' toughest opponents. He had a tackle for loss during their game against CFP participant James Madison, had 1.5 sacks during a game at Arizona, and also had 1.5 TFLs and a sack during a clash versus eventual FCS national champion Montana State.
Also worth noting is that Thompson did play some special teams at Weber State. PFF gives him an additional 50 snaps during football's third phase, with 35 coming on field goal block, eight on punt return, and seven in punt coverage.
It'll be interesting to see what kind of role Thompson will play at Michigan State for what will be his final year of college football, barring any sort of injury. MSU's pass rush has not been good enough lately, and the Spartans are losing a lot of the little production that they have had at those spots.
One notable loss to the portal is defensive end Jalen Thompson, who was a part of the three-way tie for the team lead at just 2.5 sacks. Jordan Hall is the team's top returning sack-getter, but he plays linebacker. Defensive lineman Quindarius Dunnigan, who also had 2.5 sacks, is out of eligibility.
The most promising returnee is likely EDGE rusher Anelu Lafaele. He transferred in last season from Wisconsin and had 2.0 sacks early on in the season before suffering an injury. Lafaele has announced that he is coming back for 2026.
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A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
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