Mississippi State football transfer portal tracker for 2025

After one of the worst seasons of Mississippi State football in the last 20 years, Jeff Lebby and the Bulldogs are now focused on figuring out how to fix it.

State will be tasked with retooling a roster that finished the season 2-10 and without an SEC win for the first time since 2002. The coach is expecting to have a whole lot of turnover on his roster with players coming in and out over the month of December and beyond.

As the portal turns, we will provide updates in this space with a timeline of events and the portal gets and exits.

Heading Out:

WR Creed Whittemore > Utah

WR JJ Harrell > Arkansas State

WR Trent Hudson > Vanderbilt

QB Chris Parson > Austin Peay

LB TB Hinton > Alcorn State

LB Ty Cooper > Tulane

LB John Lewis

DL Gabe Moore > Nebraska

CB Brice Pollock > Texas Tech

S Kobi Albert

OT Makylan Pounders > Louisville

CB Khamauri Rogers > Jackson State

WR Antonio Harmon > Marshall

LB Javae Gilmore

OL Amari Smith

LB Marcus Ross

CB Raydarious Jones

S Chris Keys

WR Mario Craver > Texas A&M

RB Keyvone Lee

QB Michael Van Buren > LSU

WR Kevin Coleman > Missouri

Coming In:

DB Jayven Williams – Kennesaw State

DT Jamil Burroughs – Miami

S Jahron Manning – Old Dominion

DE Red Hibbler – NC State

EDGE Nevaeh Sanders – Northern Illinois

WR Brenen Thompson – Oklahoma

WR Jaron Glover – Michigan State

OL Jesse Ramil – James Madison

QB Luke Kromenhoek – Florida State

LB Derion Gullette – Texas

LB Jalen Smith – Tennessee

DL Jaray Bledsoe – Texas

C Koby Keenum – Kentucky

DE Malick Sylla – Texas A&M

C Carson Lee – Eastern Michigan

RB Fluff Bothwell – South Alabama

DL Darron Reed – Auburn

DL Raishien Thomas – Northern Illinois

DL Will Whitson – Coastal Carolina

Timeline:

November 24 – Due to a coaching change at Kennesaw State, the Bulldogs were able to bring in a transfer portal player before the portal opened for everyone else. Jayven Williams comes to State after a productive season with the Owls. Williams had 29 tackles with 1.5 sack and an interception in nine games this season. He should compete for reps as a junior next season.

November 30 – Just a few hours after the Battle of the Golden Egg finished off the Bulldogs’ season, State had its first two players announce their intentions of entering the portal. Moves first reported by On3 Sports, sophomore Creed Whittemore and freshman JJ Harrell both decided to move on from Starkville. Whittemore’s exit has been expected since M&W Daily broke the news in September that he would redshirt.  

December 2 – Trent Hudson joined Whittemore and Harrell and entered the portal. Like Whittemore, Hudson decided to sit out the rest of the season after four games and sources indicated he would enter the portal along with his fellow redshirting wide out.

Also entering the portal will be redshirt freshman QB Chris Parson. A Mike Leach-recruited signal caller, Parson was essentially passed up by freshman Michael Van Buren this season. Parson was 11-of-26 for 103 yards and three interceptions last year and played sparingly this season, mostly as a running quarterback. Parson had eight carries for 31 yards in 2024.

A third player that entered the portal on Monday was redshirt freshman LB TB Hinton. He has not impacted the field of play in his first two seasons on campus.

December 3 – Junior LB Ty Cooper is entering the transfer portal after getting significant reps at his position this year. Cooper had 29 tackles, 2.5 TFL and 1.0 sacks in what was his most productive season so far. Joining him in the portal is fellow LB John Lewis who had a disappointing run at State. In four years, Lewis had just 44 tackles in 40 games. He had a chance to take a step this year and was a representative for MSU at SEC Media Days, but he just made 21 tackles.

Cooper’s fellow Louisville brethren Gabriel Moore also announced he will hit the portal on Tuesday. Moore redshirted last season as a freshman and sat out all of this year as he recovered from an unspecified illness or injury.

The biggest hit of the portal to this point came around lunch on Tuesday. State’s best coverage corner Brice Pollock was announced as the next entry into the portal. It’s a major hit to State’s secondary and defense as a whole as Pollock picked up 48 tackles this season and defended 10 passes with one interception.

December 4 – State had three players announce they would enter the transfer portal during signing day festivities on Wednesday. Sophomore safety Kobi Albert, junior starting left tackle Makylan Pounders and CB Khamauri Rogers each will be moving on from State.

December 7 – The second portal addition of the offseason is in for the Bulldogs. As first reported by M&W Daily, former Alabama and Miami defensive tackle Jamil Burroughs will transfer to State.

December 8 – Sophomore LB Javae Gilmore is entering the transfer portal. Gilmore made two tackles and had 1.0 TFL in 11 games.

December 9 – This is the official opening of the transfer portal and action is heating up across the landscape. State has two players entering the portal by lunch time as former EMCC LB Marcus Ross entered along with redshirt freshman OT Amari Smith. Neither player made an impact for State this year with Ross playing in just one game.

The Bulldogs have had two in state defensive backs enter the portal as well in CB Raydar Jones and S Chris Keys. Jones will have to appeal to get a seventh season of college football after playing at LSU for four years and MSU for two while Keys will be in his sixth year with a season of eligibility left due to COVID. He came to State from Indiana.

State had a big name enter the portal in the form of freshman WR Mario Craver. After leading the Bulldogs with 21.6 yards per catch, Craver will enter the portal as one of the more explosive wide outs available.

Former starting running back Keyvone Lee is another addition to the portal. The former Penn State transfer had worked himself into the RB1 role but an injury against Florida ended his season.

December 10 – As Maroon and White Daily members found out on Monday, QB Michael Van Buren officially hit the portal Tuesday night. Van Buren had a solid freshman season after taking over for injured starter Blake Shapen and threw for 1,886 yards, 11 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

December 11 – Good news and bad news found State on Wednesday as the Bulldogs landed a key transfer in Old Dominion safety Jahron Manning and lost top playmaker Kevin Coleman all in a 10 minute span. The former Copiah Lincoln CC defensive back had 84 tackles, three interceptions and three pass deflections this season for the Monarchs. Coleman is a big blow for a State offense that now won’t be returning a lot of production. He leaves after putting up 74 catches for nearly 1,000 yards and six touchdowns.

The Bulldogs were able to get back on the good news cycle later in the evening when David Turner landed NC State defensive end Red Hibbler from NC State. The Louisville native had 6.5 sacks a season ago but missed all of this year. He’ll have one season of eligibility remaining.

December 13 – After a quiet day in the portal, things heated back up for State on Friday.

The Bulldogs landed three commitments from the portal as wide receivers Jaron Glover from Michigan State and Brenen Thompson of Oklahoma were joined by edge rusher Nevaeh Sanders from Northern Illinois.

Glover had 29 catches for 453 yards and two touchdowns in the last two seasons with the Spartans. Thompson started his career with Texas and spent the last two years with Oklahoma where he caught 26 passes for 471 yards and four scores. 2024 was Thompson’s best season yet as he caught 19 passes for 230 yards and two touchdowns. He has a reported 4.39 40-yard dash.

For Sanders, it’s been a wild journey getting to the SEC. He began as a WR committed to an NAIA school before walking on at Youngstown State. He transferred to Iowa Western for a year before walking on at Northern Illinois last year and earning a scholarship. In two seasons he had 7.5 TFL and 6.5 sacks.

December 15 – A couple of former Bulldogs have new destinations. Whittemore is transferring to Utah and Van Buren will land at LSU.

December 16 – The Bulldogs land their first offensive line commit in James Madison OT Jesse Ramil.

December 17 – Some big news came in on Tuesday morning as the Bulldogs landed their QB of the transfer class in Florida State’s Luke Kromenhoek. The former five-star is the portal’s No. 3 QB by the Industry Rankings and the No. 16 player overall.

Former receiver Mario Craver has transferred to Texas A&M after a breakthrough first year. Craver had some serious attention in the portal including from LSU and Alabama.

December 18 – Former top 100 linebacker Derion Gullette signed with the Bulldogs on Wednesday as the Texas defender adds some talent to the Bulldog front seven. QB transfer Chris Parson also made a decision to transfer to Austin Peay.

December 19 – Louisville native and former State DL Gabriel Moore is headed to Nebraska. Moore sat all of 2024 with an unspecified illness. CB Khamauri Rogers also announced his transfer destination and he’ll stay in state to play for Jackson State next year.

The Bulldogs landed a major addition out of the portal in the midst of those announcements. Tennessee LB Jalen Smith committed to State after taking visits to Virginia Tech and Auburn. Smith was a Freshman All-SEC LB this year as a reserve and had 34 tackles and 1.5 TFL helping UT to the playoffs.

December 21 – State landed former Texas four-star DL Jaray Bledsoe. The rising junior has two years left of eligibility. Additionally, former State WR Antonio Harmon will transfer to Marshall.

December 22 – Another commitment came through for State this week as former Kentucky center Koby Keenum chose the Bulldogs. Keenum is an Alabama native and was a top target for the Bulldogs coming out of high school before choosing the Wildcats. As a redshirt freshman in Lexington, he played in 11 of 12 games.

The Bulldogs capped the day with two more commitments that came in on Sunday evening. First, State was able to snag a potential EDGE in Texas A&M’s Malick Sylla. That addition helps fill a need for much more pass rush. Also coming through was a second center transfer in veteran Carson Lee from Eastern Michigan. Lee also played at Colorado during his career.

State had a former player find a destination. Harrell chose Arkansas State.

December 24 – A big signing came across on Tuesday as the Bulldogs landed South Alabama RB Fluff Bothwell. This past season Fluff had 112 carries for 834 yards and 13 touchdowns.

December 26 – After getting a break for Christmas Day, the Bulldogs were back in the portal column on Thursday. Auburn DL Darron Reed announced he was transferring to Starkville. The former four-star, top 100 recruit didn’t have any production his first two years with the Tigers but will have three years to play.

December 27 – More talent and depth was added to the defensive line as David Turner was able to land Northern Illinois’ Raishien Thomas. During his career, Thomas has racked up nearly 200 tackles 23.5 TFL and 6.0 sacks. He is expected to compete for a starting spot right away at the defensive end position.

December 31 – Another big get out of the portal came on Monday as the Bulldogs managed to land Coastal Carolina standout Will Whitson. In 17 games, Whitson had 63 tackles, 8.5 TFL and 5.0 sacks with the Chanticleers.