Tag: Michigan State

UNC football lands key piece to its 2025 offense with Michigan State WR transfer

UNC football’s latest transfer portal addition is a former Big 10 wide receiver.

As we progress deeper into bowl season, the North Carolina Tar Heels continue to land transfer portal commitments.

UNC can thank its new head football coach, Bill Belichick, for making players want to continue their careers in Chapel Hill.

We have our transfer portal tracker here, North Carolina already has commitments from the likes of Purdue quarterback Ryan Browne, Michigan kicker Adam Samaha and East Carolina defensive tackle C.J. Mims.

You can add another transfer to the Tar Heels’ roster, as on Friday, December 20, Michigan State wide receiver Aziah Johnson committed to continue his college football career in Chapel Hill.

Johnson, who will enter his sophomore season during his first year at UNC, recorded 276 receiving yards and two touchdowns – on 16 catches – for the Spartans in 2024. Johnson was one of just five MSU pass-catchers with multiple touchdowns, plus his yardage total was fourth on the Spartans.

With top 2024 wide receivers J.J. Jones and Nate McCollum exhausting their eligibility, North Carolina was in desperate need of a wide receiver. Johnson fits that role: while his freshman year numbers weren’t eye-popping, Michigan State’s offense struggled as a whole.

Looking ahead at the Tar Heels’ projected 2025 roster, Johnson likely moves near the top of their depth chart. Kobe Paysour is currently in line to be WR1, but UNC also has a plethora of freshman talent.

Johnson will be catching passes from either Max Johnson or Ryan Browne. There’s also the possibility North Carolina adds another quarterback through the transfer portal.

Let’s give the Tar Heels’ newest addition a warm welcome. Here’s to hoping Johnson can be another piece of UNC’s electric offense.

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Former Michigan State cornerback projected to transfer to Miami

A new report has Charles Brantley projected to go to Miami.

This is the third time that Michigan State cornerback Charles Brantley has entered the transfer portal, and this time it appears it will be for good.

On3 released a new projection for Brantley’s transfer destination on Saturday, and they have him slated to go down south to Florida to play for Miami.

This move would make some sense as Brantley is from Florida.

Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan state news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Andrew Brewster on Twitter @IAmBrewster.

Tom Izzo and Greg Kampe wore matching Grinch sweaters while coaching against each other

You probably haven’t seen this one before.

Something strange happened: The Michigan State and Oakland head coaches intentionally wore the same outfit to coach against each other.

Michigan State’s Izzo and Oakland’s Kampe played in Detroit at Little Caesars Arena on Tuesday. Izzo has led his Spartans to eight Final Four appearances, earning a title in 2000. He is in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Kampe has coached at Oakland, in Michigan, since 1984. You may remember Kampe as a beloved character from the 2024 NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Last year, his program upset No. 3 Kentucky during the first round of March Madness.

Last night was not the first time he has worn an ugly sweater around this time of year, making headlines for this heinous 3-D moose outfit in 2016.

But getting Izzo to join in on the fun was a particularly nice touch.

After the game, the two coaches sat down for a rare but thrilling joint press conference.

Izzo made fun of Kampe for buying the “ugliest sweaters” ever and teased him for actually paying for the purchase.

Kampe also made jokes about his own team getting hurt during warmups.

The whole exchange was absurd and hilarious and we need more content of Izzo and Kampe together.

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Michigan State set to part ways with volleyball coach Leah Johnson

Michigan State parts ways with volleyball head coach Leah Johnson

Michigan State is set to undergo a leadership change within the volleyball program. After three seasons at the helm, Leah Johnson and Michigan State are parting ways.

Johnson came to MSU from Illinois State, where she compiled a 104-53 record with four NCAA Tournament appearances. In her three seasons at MSU, she could never truly get anything going, and finished with a 43-50 (19-41 B1G) record.

Michigan State announced the decision via their athletics X page

Athletic director Alan Haller will now undergo a nationwide search to find the next leader of the school’s volleyball program.

Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Cory Linsner on Twitter @Cory_Linsner

Former Michigan State DB Jaden Mangham wears U of M cap to MSU graduation

Jaden Mangham tried to troll Michigan State at their graduation ceremony on Saturday…

Jaden Mangham shocked Michigan State football fans back in May when he announced he was transferring to bitter rival Michigan. It was a controversial move, for obvious reasons, and led to a lot outrage from fans and alumni. Since the transfer, Mangham has also been recorded speaking negatively about Michigan State and talking about how much ‘different’ it is at Michigan.

Mangham, who graduated early from Michigan State before he transferred to Michigan, attended MSU’s graduation on Saturday, and decided to troll Michigan State fans by wearing a Michigan cap to his graduation.

You can see it below:

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Former Michigan State punter commits to transfer to Texas

A former Michigan State punter is transferring to Texas

At one point in time, Australian punter Jack Bouwmeester was in line to be the future starting punter for Michigan State football. Then, the pandemic sent him back to Australia, and he reset his collegiate football career with Utah.

Now, Bouwmeester’s unique journey will take him to one of the top programs in the country as he committed to transfer to Texas on Friday.

Bouwmeester led the Pac-12 in average punt yardage in 2023 with 45.5 and averaged 44.7 yards per punt in 2024.

Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan state news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Andrew Brewster on Twitter @IAmBrewster.

Former Wisconsin starting inside linebacker declares for 2025 NFL draft

Former Wisconsin starting inside linebacker declares for 2025 NFL draft

Former Wisconsin Badgers and Michigan State linebacker Jordan Turner declared for the 2025 NFL draft on Thursday.

The veteran linebacker spent the 2024 season with the Spartans after playing the first four years of his career at Wisconsin. He was a two-year starter with the Badgers from 2022-2023, including the first year of the Luke Fickell era with the program.

Related: Tracking Wisconsin football’s transfer portal offers, interests and top targets

Turner put forth his best statistical season in 2024, finishing with 66 total tackles, 11 tackles for loss, three sacks, two interceptions and a pass deflection in 12 appearances. That production is up a tick from his two-year average of 64.5 tackles, six tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks with the Badgers.

Overall, the former three-star recruit in the class of 2020 has been one of the more consistent linebackers in the Big Ten over the past few seasons.

“After much reflection and many open and honest conversations with my family recently, I believe that I am ready for the next chapter of my career and ready to prepare for my lifelong dream of playing in the National Football League,” Turner wrote on X. “What that being said, I am officially declaring for the 2025 NFL draft.” He went on to specifically thank Paul Chryst and Jim Leonhard in his lengthy statement, two of his three head coaches during his time at Wisconsin.

Turner has yet to receive a concrete day or round projection from any major draft service.

Of note, both he and fellow 2022 and 2023 starting linebacker Maema Njongmeta have found success since departing Wisconsin. Turner was Michigan State’s most productive defender in 2024, while Njongmeta surprisingly made the Cincinnati Bengals’ active roster and is currently helping the team win.

Wisconsin was balanced at inside linebacker in 2024. Christian Alliegro (66 tackles, five tackles for loss, three sacks), Jake Chaney (55 tackles, four tackles for loss, one sack) and Jaheim Thomas (53 tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack) led the room. All finished the campaign with respectable outputs, but none emerged as a clear-cut star at the position.

Turner’s professional path will be interesting to watch as we continue to monitor how former transfers fared at new destinations.

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Michigan State women’s basketball cracks top-25 in latest USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll

The Spartans have earned a top-25 ranking after starting the season 8-0

After a perfect start to the 2024-25 basketball season, Michigan State women’s basketball is finally being rewarded for their efforts and starting to garner some national attention. On Tuesday, the Spartans cracked the top-25 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, coming in at No. 25 after getting votes the last few polls.

This comes a day after MSU was named the No. 24 ranked team in the AP Poll. This is the first time the team has been ranked in the Robyn Fralick era.

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Two Michigan State football players named to All-Big Ten teams

Two Michigan State football players named to All-Big Ten teams

With the end of the regular college football season upon us, it’s officially awards season. While it wasn’t the best season in Michigan State football history, the Spartans had some players who stood out amongst the competition this year at their positions, especially on special teams, and for that, two Spartans were rewarded with placements on All-Big Ten teams.

Those players were Punter Ryan Eckley and Kicker Jonathan Kim.

Both players made the second team for the coaches, while Kim made the second team for the media and Eckley was third team.

Charles Brantley, Khris Bogle, Luke Newman, and Jordan Turner were all honorable mentions.

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Michigan State QB Aidan Chiles promises change is coming to MSU football in 2025

Aidan Chiles had some spicy comments after MSU’s last game of the year

Michigan State football will officially miss a bowl game for the third straight year, and the first year since Jonathan Smith took over the program. After the game, quarterback Aidan Chiles had some extremely spicy things to say about what happened this season, the fans, and what’s coming next year.

In particular, Chiles started with some comments that will probably be divisive, as he calls out the fans who left Saturday’s loss to Rutgers early. He also called out some of his teammates, saying he didn’t like the mentality he saw from some of his fellow MSU players this season:

“I no longer care about the fans, at all… except the ones who stayed, they were cool… I think its been this consistent thing that we don’t know how to finish games… maybe its ‘I don’t want to play’, maybe its the attitude, I don’t know what it is, I don’t have that attitude. It’s disheartening, I don’t like that mentality… To the fans that stayed throughout the whole game and the whole season, this will not be the same next year, and I can promise you that.”

Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan state news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Andrew Brewster on Twitter @IAmBrewster.