List management and building never stops. And Mel Tucker used the start of the high school signing period to bring in older transfers with college experience to help Michigan State football in key areas of need.
Two of them played at the same Georgia high school before embarking on a college journey that took them to East Lansing. One of them is coming home to play with his brother. The other is a former top 100 player heading north with three years of eligibility remaining.
The Spartans Wednesday signed defensive tackle Dre Butler, a sixth-year transfer from Liberty. Next was Keyshawn Blackstock, number one junior college inside lineman in the nation, followed by South Florida running back and former Cass Tech star Jaren Mangham.
Tucker then added one more defensive lineman, former 2021 four-star Tunmise Adeleye from Texas A&M, making 12 transfers to go along with a high school class of 14 players who signed on Wednesday.
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He continued Tucker’s circuitous path to overhaul his roster after having eight prep players dropped during the 2023 recruiting cycle, including five four-star prospects. The Spartans signed all 14 high school commitments on Wednesday and used the transfer portal to fill in the gaps left by those lost prospects.
MSU added defensive tackle Jarrett Jackson (Florida State) and linebacker Aaron Alexander (Massachusetts) on Monday. In recent weeks, Tucker has also signed running back Nathan Carter (Connecticut), cornerback Semar Marvin (Wisconsin), kicker Jonathan Kim (North Carolina) and tight ends Tyneil Hopper (Boise State) and Ademola Faleye (Norfolk State). .
Mangham and Alexander remained out of contract through 2 p.m. Wednesday, as did Wisconsin tight end Jaylan Franklin.
Adding Blackstock boosts an MSU offensive line that has underperformed this fall in running play for much of the season. The 6-foot-1, 315-pound Covington, Ga., native will arrive in January with two years of eligibility remaining after spending the last two seasons at Coffeyville Community College in Kansas. He is Juco’s eighth overall player in the 247Sports.com composite rankings and has received offers from several of the top Power Five schools, including USC, Oklahoma, Auburn and Tennessee, and five other Big Ten programs.
Like Blackstock, Butler played his high school ball at Newton High in Covington, before playing one season at Independence Community College in Kansas in 2019. He sat out the 2018 season. Butler originally signed a letter of intent to play at Tennessee- Chattanooga from the Football Championship Subdivision in the Class of 2018 and had offers to play college basketball at smaller schools.
MSU will be the third Football Bowl Subdivision shutout in the past four seasons for Butler, who had 20 tackles and a sack in 13 games at Auburn during the 2020 and 2021 seasons before moving to Liberty in January. The 6-5, 300-pound had 23 tackles and 1.5 sacks in 13 games for the Flames this fall, forcing a fumble and recovering another.
Mangham, the former Detroit Cass Tech standout, announced Wednesday afternoon that he was transferring to Michigan State, his third faculty. Tucker signed Mangham in the Class of 2019 at Colorado-Mangham had previously committed to Colorado head coach Mike MacIntyre-where he played in all 12 games as a freshman. After the 2020 season, Mangham was transferred to South Florida, where he was a 2021 All-AAC honorable mention after rushing for 15 touchdowns. He played in four games this season, rushing for 104 yards on 24 carries and three touchdowns.
Mangham’s brother, Jaden, just completed his true rookie season at defensive back at MSU.
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Adeleye is a 6-4, 290-pound from Katy, Texas, who redshirted in 2021 and has played in just three games this season. He was the 39th best player in the nation in 2021, the ninth best defensive lineman, and the 8th best player out of Texas.
The changes continued Tucker’s circuitous path to overhaul his roster after having eight prep players dropped during the 2023 draft cycle, including five four-star prospects. The Spartans entered signing day with a high school class of 14 players and used the transfer portal to fill in the gaps left by lost prospects.
MSU added defensive tackle Jarrett Jackson (Florida State) and linebacker Aaron Alexander (Massachusetts) on Monday. In recent weeks, Tucker has also signed running back Nathan Carter (Connecticut), cornerback Semar Marvin (Wisconsin), kicker Jonathan Kim (North Carolina) and tight ends Tyneil Hopper (Boise State) and Ademola Faleye (Norfolk State). .
Get in touch with Cris Solari:csolari@freepress.com🇧🇷 Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari🇧🇷
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