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Well, another Michigan State football player has decided to enter the transfer portal. This time it’s junior wide receiver Cam Chambers.
Thank you Michigan State University I am forever a Spartan, but it’s time...✌ https://t.co/CW1SCUfeiH
— Cam Chambers (@CamChambers21) October 17, 2019
Chambers is now the fifth Spartan to do so in less than one month. He joins wide receiver/former running back Weston Bridges, linebacker Brandon Bouyer-Randle and running backs Connor Heyward and La’Darius Jefferson.
Fellow wide receivers Darrell Stewart Jr., Cody White, C.J. Hayes, Julian Barnett, Laress Nelson and (prior to his injury) Jalen Nailor are all players who have caught at least one pass this season. Chambers seemed to be buried on the depth chart, despite many expecting him to have a larger role entering the 2019 season.
The circumstances regarding Chambers’ exit are a bit strange. Chambers completed his undergraduate degree at MSU in just three years. It was then revealed that Chambers would be pursuing a law degree. Many speculated this was the reason that Chambers hasn’t been on the field much — but he refuted that in a since-deleted tweet from Oct. 16, where Chambers basically said he had been asking for playing-time all season and law school wasn’t holding him back on the field.
Chambers will enter the portal as a graduate transfer. He has played just 17 snaps so far this season. In 2018, Chambers caught 19 passes for 264 yards. In 24 career games, Chambers had 24 receptions for 330 yards and zero touchdowns. He was a four-star recruit out of New Jersey in the 2016 class, and redshirted as a true freshman.
This is not a promising sign that MSU has lost so many players in such short amount of time, but this may be the new normal in the transfer portal era — athletes who are unhappy with playing time (or for other reasons) are able to leave at any time — and it’s going to happen more frequently across the country.