How Hall's Hospitality Helped Welcome Newcomers to MSU

EAST LANSING, Mich. --- Are you a member of the Michigan State football team? Do you need a place to stay? Dial No. 5.

"Chaos" is often a word used to describe what life in the transfer portal is like. A player might be entering not knowing what part of the country they'll be living in next week. Obviously, this makes the moving process challenging.

"Those first couple of weeks are kinda crazy," Iowa State Tre Bell said about his transfer to MSU. "It's just the way the portal worked, and the little window that we had to figure out where we're going, get admitted into school, all that stuff."

Sometimes guys show up in East Lansing without a place to live yet. Linebacker Jordan Hall ended up making his own place a temporary hotel for a couple of his teammates this winter while they figured it all out.

Setting Up Shop

Bell was one guy who needed a place to stay for a while when he arrived on campus. He said that he actually stayed with quarterback Alessio Milivojevic for two days at first, but then Milivojevic's roommate arrived. Bell ended up staying at Hall's place for three weeks.

Linebacker Caleb Wheatland, who transferred in from Auburn, was also in a similar situation, staying at Hall's spot for a "couple of weeks."

NIL payments aren't public, but one can imagine Hall is among the higher-paid guys on the roster as the star returning linebacker. He's not being stuck in Akers Hall. Alas, being willing to lend a hand to new teammates is the type of thing you should want from a team captain. He even let some guys who came back for Pro Day stay at his place.

Hall wasn't treating it like a favor, though. Both Bell and Wheatland said that the welcome didn't stop with a bed to crash on.

Michigan State's head coach Pat Fitzgerald instructs players during spring football practice on Tuesday, March 24, 2026, in East Lansing. | Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Off-the-Field Activities

Hall has also taken it upon himself to get to know his new group of teammates. Michigan State brought in 30 players from the transfer portal alone, so that's a lot of people you're practically starting fresh with.

Wheatland said that the team has been doing simple bonding activities together, like escape rooms. He also said the team has a Bible study group. Hall is one of the team's players who has been open about his faith before.

Oct 4, 2025; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Michigan State Spartans linebacker Jordan Hall (5) celebrates after an interception during the game against Nebraska at Memorial Stadium. | Kylie Graham-Imagn Images

Bell says it just made the transition from Ames to East Lansing a lot easier. He went and played simulator golf a few times with Hall during those couple of weeks he was crashing there. Once it was time to start winter workouts, the facility didn't feel like a totally brand-new place, because Bell had already spent some time with some of the guys.

"During that time, we spent a lot of time getting to know each other, playing games and stuff like that, going to play golf at the simulator," Bell said. "Just stuff like that, to get to know each other, and then just interacting. Then, when we came to the facility, it just made everything a lot easier in transition, because I had guys that I knew."

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