©
BREAKING: Michigan State's Highest-Rated 2023 Signee Enters Transfer Portal
Two more Spartan football players have entered the transfer portal during the spring window, bringing total up to 15...
After much turnover to its roster during the winter months, Michigan State football is experiencing another overhaul this spring as 14 scholarship players and two walk-ons have now entered the transfer portal in the past eight days.
The Spartans' latest entries come from former four-star 2023 EDGE rusher prospect Bai Jobe, walk-on kicker Stephen Rusnak and walk-on offensive lineman Andy Hartman, who each submitted their names to the portal on Wednesday.
Jobe, a redshirt freshman, was the No. 54 overall player in the class of 2023, the highest-rated high school player signed by Michigan State since Malik McDowell (No. 38) in the class of 2014, and the ninth-highest rated player the Spartans have signed in the modern recruiting era (since 2000), according to 247Sports.
While Jobe's potential as a pass rusher is through the roof, there was a rawness to the 6-foot-3, 225-pound prospect's game. Moving to the United State from Senegal as an eighth-grader in 2018, Jobe did not start playing football until his senior year in high school in 2020. Yet, by the time of his senior season, he was a consensus four-star prospect according to all the major recruiting platforms.
Jobe appeared in just one game for Michigan State in 2023, as the freshman needed to add weight and muscle to his athletic frame to be college ready. The redshirt freshman participated in spring practice for MSU over the past five weeks, and had two tackles in the 'Spring Showcase' scrimmage this past Saturday. Unfortunately, it appears the Spartans will never see if the former near-Top 50 prospect will reach his potential, after Jobe entered the transfer portal with all four seasons of college eligibility remaining.
Rusnak, a redshirt junior, has spent the past three seasons at MSU but was behind starting kicker Jonathan Kim on the depth chart. As a true freshman in 2021, the native of Clarkston, Michigan appeared in the final five games of the season, converting 4-of-5 extra point attempts but missing his only field goal attempt. Rusnak averaged 54.3 yards per kickoff and had four touchbacks that season.
However, over the last two seasons, Rusnak has spent little time on the field, appearing in only two games each season. The kicker will have two seasons of eligibility remaining whereever he winds up.
Hartman, a redshirt freshman, walked on at Michigan State in 2022 turning down scholarship offers from Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan, Northwood and Wayne State. The 6-foot-6, 270-pounder never played for the Spartans over the past two season, taking a redshirt in 2022. Hartman will have three seasons of eligibility remaining when he finds a new home.
The transfer portal has been unkind to MSU since the spring window opened on April 16, with 13 scholarship players departing the program over the past eight days. This includes both of the Spartans' starting defensive tackles in Derrick Harmon and Simeon Barrow, three running backs in Davion Primm, Jaelon Barbarin and Jalen Berger, three defensive backs in Eddie Pleasant III, Margui Lowery and Sean Brown, as well as tight end Jack Nickel, offensive lineman Braden Miller, wide receiver Antonio Gates Jr., defensive end Andrew Depaepe and linebacker Ma'a Gaoteote. Since the start of the 2023 season, MSU has lost 32 scholarship players to the transfer portal.
Head coach Jonathan Smith and his staff added 11 players to their 2024 roster during the winter transfer portal window, all of whom remain with the program through spring. The Spartans have added two more transfers out of the portal earlier this week, in
former Indiana EDGE rusher Anthony Jones and former UMass running back Kay'Ron Lynch-Adams. However, Smith and his staff have more roster holes to fill going forward.
For a full look at Michigan State's transfer portal activity, click here.
Don’t forget to follow the official Spartan Nation Page on Facebook Spartan Nation WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE, and be a part of our vibrant community group Go Green Go White as well WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.
