Michigan State’s Tucker seeks transfer portal edge
EAST LANSING — Xavier Henderson and Darius Snow glanced at each other and smiled, indicating they believed the answer to the question just posed to them was obvious.
Not an hour had passed since the conclusion of the final Michigan State football spring practice in April, and a reporter asked the two defensive stalwarts whether they could sense how much the quality of players around them has improved in the two calendar years Mel Tucker has coached the team.
Snow laughed, before Henderson replied, “I think it has increased a lot. I don't want to get too specific. But you can tell.”
Since his arrival in February 2020, Tucker has waged an aggressive campaign to upgrade the roster.
The transfer portal, the NCAA'S marketplace for student-athletes, gave Tucker the means to jumpstart a sagging program and accelerate a rebuilding project that figured to take years.
“Why do tomorrow what you can do today?” Tucker said. “It's a race against time. The players that are here, their clock is ticking. They want to win now.”
The transfer market, which Tucker initially used to fill holes and buttress certain position groups, now is giving MSU greater license to be selective with the high schoolers it is pursuing.
“Maybe if there's some doubt,” Tucker said, “maybe it's better not to take that player and wait for a guy who is in the portal, where you're going to have more information. So, generally speaking, why reach? Why reach when you're not 100% convicted as a staff?”
The early returns are promising. According to the 247Sports' composite, the average rating of the Spartans' six commitments is 89.10, which is slightly above the mean score attached to Michigan's 88.65 current haul.
Tucker, who spent 10 years in the NFL, plotted out this offseason like the general manager of a pro franchise. He approached portal acquisitions like free agency and the ongoing high school recruiting process as the draft. The transfer additions were designed to fill the team's immediate needs, which has allowed the Spartans to chase the best prospect available.
“The goal in mind,” Tucker said, “is that at some point, they're all playing and they're all starting. You don't want to bring in guys if they're not going to make you better.”
The days of MSU settling for less are over, Tucker implied.
Henderson and Snow already see that as they look around their locker room. So does quarterback Payton Thorne, who was coy when he was recently asked about his team's wave of roster improvements.
“We've definitely added some very good athletes,” Thorne said with a smile. “I'll leave it at that.”
But Tucker won't. He wants even more.