Michigan State Football: Offseason Transfer Tracker

Offseason attrition is part of the game in college football, and that has hit Michigan State pretty hard the last couple of years. Let’s hope there aren’t too many Spartans who decide to enter the transfer pool, though. But for those that are moving on, we will track them here throughout the offseason.

Note: In addition to the transfers, Michigan State will be losing cornerback Justin Layne — who had another year of eligibility remaining — to the NFL Draft, and running back LJ Scott — who could have opted to sit out the bowl game and redshirt after only appearing in four regular season games in 2018 — also to the draft.

Back to the transfers. The NCAA recently eased its rules for transferring players, which eliminates the “permission-to-contact” process. Basically college coaches are no longer allowed to block transferring athletes from certain schools, and the players no longer need to seek permission for schools to contact them. Now, athletes will notify their current school of their intention to transfer, which will then require the school to enter the student’s name into a database within two business days of the request. This went into effect in October.

William Pryzstup, Punter

So far, there haven’t been too many announcements that I am aware of. Per MLive, via a Mark Dantonio statement, the first to transfer is punter William Pryzstup.

Pryzstup was a walk-on freshman from Florida. He played in four games this season. But with Jake Hartbarger planning to return for a sixth year after missing nearly the entire 2018 season, and a logjam at the position behind him, the move makes sense for the former Oviedo High School standout.

Mufi Hill-Hunt, Defensive Lineman

The other Spartan so far to enter the transfer portal is defensive tackle Mufi Hill-Hunt, as he announced on Twitter. Hill-Hunt was recruited as a defensive end but made the transition to the interior in college. He appeared in only two games in his Spartan career, both in 2017, and also suffered an ACL injury that year.

Hill-Hunt was trying to earn playing time along a crowded and talented defensive line, so the move makes sense for him. He was redshirted in 2016, and would be entering his junior year of eligibility, but he will be graduating from Michigan State in May and seeking a grad transfer, which should allow him immediate eligibility at his next school.

In other Michigan State transfer news

Former MSU quarterback Messiah deWeaver will play his college ball at Old Dominion University in 2019. ODU competes in Conference USA. This is an interesting landing spot for deWeaver, who led East Mississippi Community College to an undefeated season and national championship in 2018. He was widely considered to be one of the best JUCO quarterbacks available, coming in as the No. 3 pro-style quarterback in 247 JUCO recruit rankings.

deWeaver was a highly-recruited four star prospect who initially committed to Michigan State in 2016. After redshirting his freshman year, he was the backup to Brian Lewerke in 2017. He appeared in just two games that season and decided to transfer afterward, opting to go the junior college route and playing immediately rather than having to sit out a year. Wishing him good luck at ODU.

Feel free to post in the comments if you see anybody that is missing. This post will be updated as more news cycles throughout the offseason.