Since Michigan State‘s final game of the 2021 regular season, 13 players have announced that they are entering the NCAA Transfer Portal.
One would think that means those players have played their final game for the Spartans but that is not the case.
According to reports, MSU head coach Mel Tucker is allowing 10 of those portal players to play for Michigan State in the Peach Bowl.
“Those are individual decisions that players are making, and I’m supporting them on the decisions that they do make,” Michigan State coach Mel Tucker said Sunday during his first news conference since the Spartans arrived in Atlanta on Christmas Eve. “So I just told the guys at the very beginning, at the onset, if you’re in, you’re in 100%. And if you’re not in, let’s communicate that, and then we’ll support you. That’s the way we’re handling everything.”
One person who does not agree with Tucker’s decision to allow the portal players to suit up is Pittsburgh head coach, Pat Narduzzi.
“I think it sets a bad precedent,” Narduzzi said. “I watched that Florida game the other night and saw that the starting quarterback is already in the portal. What’s going on here? I think the portal is bad enough as it is.”
“We’ve been lucky and fortunate,” Narduzzi said. “I think we’ve got a great culture where our guys hang in there. We’ve got guys coming back for a fifth and sixth year. So we have not had that problem. So we’re blessed that way.
“But it’s a bad deal when you let guys go in the portal and still play for you. I just wonder what it’s like in the locker room and you wonder why you lose like that in a game in which maybe you should win. I think once you go in the portal, you’re in the portal and you can stay in the portal.”
