Several former Michigan State players have been finding new homes in the transfer portal over the past week.
We’ve seen Nick Marsh end up at Notre Dame, Michael Masunas is at Texas, Aidan Chiles is visiting Northwestern on Tuesday, and Makhi Frazier will be down in Gainesville visiting Florida later this week.
And on Tuesday, two more former Spartans found new homes in the Big Ten.
Highly-touted cornerback Aydan West, who entered the portal just last week, announced that he would be signing with Big Ten foe Minnesota. He will likely be a starting cornerback early on for PJ Fleck’s defense. Kind of crazy that he went to where his former defensive coordinator coached before Michigan State.
Michigan State CB transfer Aydan West has signed with Minnesota, @mzenitz and I have learned.
— Chris Hummer (@chris_hummer) January 6, 2026
West ranks as the No. 22 CB in the @247SportsPortal rankings. https://t.co/UYLe0jBakO pic.twitter.com/zO6WZShLz2
Aydan’s brother, Elisha West, also decided to transfer to Minnesota, joining his younger brother in Minneapolis. He called the move “third time’s a charm” on X after transferring to Michigan State from Merrimack College in 2024.
Third times a charm! @GopherFootball @MinnesotaOn3 pic.twitter.com/5VTTfYrJ1H
— Elisha West (@EVsDaWorld) January 6, 2026
The bothers fortunately won’t face Michigan State in 2026 like Katin Houser (Illinois) and potentially Chiles (Northwestern). Michigan State won’t have to see the Wests nor Nick Marsh next season.
Pat Fitzgerald almost got Aydan West to stay
Michigan State fans thought that West was returning in 2026 when he posted a highlight video from his freshman season, saying that year one was fun, but he was coming for it all in year two. That felt like a return announcement, but he shockingly hit the portal just two days before it opened.
It also didn’t take him long to find a new home which makes you wonder if he already built a relationship with Fleck and the Gophers.
Clearly he and his older brother, Elisha, were a package deal.
When Aydan announced his transfer from Michigan State, he used the #SD4L tag, and immediately faced backlash from Spartan fans who insisted that he couldn’t use that phrase, especially after just one season in East Lansing. I tend to agree.
West will now contend for a starting spot at Minnesota, as he becomes just the latest former Spartan to transfer to a Big Ten program. He joins Houser, Marsh, and Jaden Mangham this offseason so far, and there will be more.